
Class 
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STORIES OF 
EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 




TIk >.ui,a Maria, the Little Flagship of €'01111111)118. with whose memorable 
voyage American history begins. 



STORIES OF 
EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



WILBUR F. GORDY 



FORMERLY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, SPRINGFIELD, MASS. I AUTHOR OF A HISTORY 
OF THE UNITED STATES FOR SCHOOLS," "ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE 
UNITED STATES," "AMERICAN LEADERS AND HEROES," "AMERICAN 
BEGINNINGS IN EUROPE," " STORIES OF AMERICAN EX- 
PLORERS," AND "colonial DAYS " 



WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 



CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 

NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON 



£ 



/7? 



Copyright, 1913, by 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 




©CI,Aa54120 
1^ .\ . 



PEEFACE 

In writing this book, no attempt has been made to deal 
especially with the causal aspects of history. They belong 
to a later phase of the learner's growth. The earlier stage, 
for which this book is designed, obtains its ideas of the past 
most naturally from the pictorial side; that is, from those 
external features of events which can best be presented 
through pictures, descriptions, and illustrative stories put 
together in chronological sequence. 

The aim of the author has been to select those interest- 
ing and colorful facts identified more or less closely with the 
lives of strong and masterful men who were the leaders of 
great movements and the centres of important situations; 
and then, with the teacher's co-operation, to interpret the 
material thus selected in such a way as to appeal to the 
imagination, and through the imagination to the heart and 
will of the child. Thus will he l^e helped to make real and 
living the past — to people it with vigorous flesh-and-blood 
men and women, thinking, feeling, willing, and acting very 
much like the men and women about him. He will, so far 
as his imagination allows, stand by the side of great leaders, 
feeling the impulse of their ideals and aspirations, sharing 
in their achievements, and learning from their successes 
and failures something for use in his own life. 



vi PREFACE 

For children of tender years, the material must not only 
be conci-etc and colorful, but it must also he presented in 
language so simple that the thought can be easily grasped. 
If the author has succeeded in this twofold purpose, "Stories 
of Early American History" should fulfil its mission. 

It is hoped that the fine illustrations and the attractive 
typographical features of the Iwok \\'ill help in bringing 
vividh' l)efore the child's mind the events recounted in the 
text. 

Another aid in making the stories real will, it is intended, 
be found in ''Some Things to Think About." These and 
similar questions, which will suggest themselves to the 
teacher, will doubtless serve to help the child in vitalizing 
the life of the past and connecting it with the present and 
his own life. 

In conclusion, I wish to acknowledge m}- deep obliga- 
tion to Mr. Forrest Morgan, of the Watkinson Liljrary, Hart- 
ford, and to Miss Elizabeth P. Peck, of the Hartford Public 
High School, both of whom have read the manuscript and 
have made many valuable suggestions and criticisms. 

Wilbur F. Gordy. 

Hartford, Conn., 
June, 1913. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Christopher Columbus 1 

II. John Cabot and Americus Vespucius 15 

III. The American Indians 18 

IV. Vasco Nunez Balboa and Ferdinand Magellan .... 30 
V. Hernando Cortez 36 

VI. Francisco Pizarro 42 

VII. Juan Ponck de Leon and Hernando de Soto 48 

VIII. Jacques Cartier 55 

IX. Sir Francis Drake 58 

X. Sir Walter Raleigh 63 

XI. Stories of Early Virginia 71 

XII. Stories of Early Maryland 87 

XIII. Stories of Early New England 93 

XIV. Stories of Early New York 116 

XV. Stories of Early Pennsylvania ].")() 

XVI. Stories of Early Georgia 136 

XVII. Life in Early Colonial Days 140 

XVIII. Father Marquette 158 

vii 



viii CONTEXTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XIX. Robert Caveuer, Sieur de La Salle 1G4 

XX. Stories of the New Englanders and the Indians ... 172 

XXI. Stories of the English and the French 178 

XXII. The English and the French in North America . . . 185 

Index 205 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

The Santa Maria, the Little Flagship of Columbus Front if! piece 

PAGE 

Christopher Columbus 3 

He was fond of jjlaying on the wharves 4 

The Fleet of Christopher Columbus 8 

Columbus in Chains 13 

John Cabot in London 16 

Americus Vespucius 17 

In each wigwam lived a whole family , 19 

An Iroquois "Long House" 20 

Sometimes these strange pueblos were perehed high on the cliffs .... 21 

Fish Spear, Arrow for War, Hunting Arrow, Shoshonee Bow 23 

A Pappoose Case 23 

An Indian Pipe 24 

A light bark canoe, easily carried 25 

Snow-shoes 2(5 

Balboa . 31 

Ferdinand Magellan 32 

The Strait of Magellan 33 

ix 



X TLLI'ST RAT IONS 



PAGE 



Hernando Cortez 37 

Horses they had never seen before 08 

Meeting of Cortez and Montezuma 40 

A Street in Ciizco 43 

The i)e()ple of Peru thought tlie horses were stranij-e monsters 44 

Tlie Inca Makinp; the Mark ri)ou the Wall 4.') 

The Death of Pizarro 46 

Searching for the Fountain of Youth 49 

Hernando de Soto 50 

De Soto Reaching the Mississippi River 52 

Burial of De Soto 53 

Jacques Cartier -'^o 

Cartier Arriving at Montreal 56 

Young Drake Watching Vessels Put Out to Sea 59 

Drake Sees the Pacific Ocean for the First Time 00 

A Spanish Galleon of the Sixteenth Century 61 

An English Ship of the Fifteenth Century 62 

Raleigh Spreading His Cloak Before (^ueen F.lizaheth 64 

Sir Walter Raleigh 65 

Queen Elizabeth 66 

Finding the Name Carved Upon the Tree 68 

John Smith 74 

Pocahontas 77 

Landing of Lord Delaware 79 



ILLUSTRATIONS xi 



PAGE 



Jamestown, 1622 82 

A \'irginia Planter S3 

Vessel at Wharf Receiving Tobacco 84 

George Calvert (Lord Baltimore) 88 

Friendly Indians, crowding tlie banks, gazed in wonder at the huge ships 89 

Departure of Pilgrim Fathers from Delft Haven, 162U 95 

^liles Standish in Armor 97 

William Bradford's Chair 98 

Pilgrim Exiles 99 

The Ma;)'flower in Plymouth Harbor 102 

Plymouth in the Early Days 105 

They built around Plymouth a i)alisade of posts 107 

John Winthrop 108 

Puritans on Horseback 109 

Roger Williams Fleeing Through the Woods Ill 

Thomas Hooker and Party on the Way to Connecticut 113 

Henry Hudson 117 

Dutch Trading With the Indians 119 

Indian Fur Trader 120 

Champlain killed one or two of their number 121 

A Patroon 123 

New Amsterdam in 1673 124-125 

A Dutch Manor 126 

Peter Stuyvesant 127 



xii ILLUSTRATIONS 



PACE 



William Penn at the Age of 22 (166G) 131 

Cottage of William Penn, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia 133 

William Penn's Treaty with the Indians 134 

James Oglethorpe 137 

He noticed many mulberry-trees 138 

A Block-House 140 

One of the children runs to a neighbor's and brings home a burning stick 142 

The Spinning-Wheel 144 

Their school-house is a rude log hut 145 

The big fireplace with its high-backed seat on either side 146 

The rich planters live in houses called mansions 150 

Old Log Cabin for the Slaves 151 

Tables, Chairs, Four-posted Bedstead 152 

Early Dutch Windmill 154 

The Great Chest of Drawers Set on Casters 155 

Statue of James Marquette 159 

The priest, in his long black robe, in one canoe, and Joliet in the other . 160 

Launching the Griffin 165 

For sixty-five days this painful journey lasted 166 

Here, in the name of the French king, he planted a column and a cross 168 

One morning one of them shot him dead 170 

They sailed down the Connecticut River 173 

This was a village of wigwams, surrounded by a palisade 174 

King Philip 175 



ILLUSTRATIONS xiii 



PACE 



Indians are stealing quietly upon the fort, stopping now and then to listen 179 

They forced the mother and nurse to march with them toward Canada ISO 

Old House at Deerfield, Mass 1S2 

The two were together much of the time 1S6 

When he needed some one to survey land, he chose Washington for the 

task 187 

Benjamin Franklin 192 

Braddock's Toilsome March Through the Wilderness 195 

The Acadians were torn from their homes and carried into strange lands 197 

James Wolfe 199 

An English Soldier of Wolfe's Army 199 

Montcalm 200 

Each man had to pull himself up by clinging to the roots and bushes . . 201 



31 A PS 

PAGE 

The First Voyage of C'olunibiis, and Places of Interest in Connection witli 

His Later \'oyages 10 

Routes Traversed by De Soto and De Leon 48 

Raleigh's Various Colonies 67 

Early Settlements in Virginia and Maryland 91 

Early Settlements in New England 114 

Early Settlements in New York and New Jersey 12S 

Early Settlements in Georgia 138 

Map Showing Routes of Cartier, Champlain, and La Salle, also French 

and English Possessions at the Time of the Last French War . . 1(37 

The English Colonies and the French Claims in 1754 183 

The French in the Ohio \'alley 191 

(Quebec and Surroundings 202 



STORIES OF 
EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

CHAPTER I 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 

Over 800 years ago, long before it was known there 
was such a place as A-mer'i-ca, a war broke out between 
the peoples of western Eu'rope and those of western A'sia. 

The peoples of western Europe were followers of Christ, 
while those of western Asia were followers of Ma-hom'et. 
The Ma-hom'et-ans held the Holy Land where Christ had 
lived, and the Christians wished to get it back. 

This war was followed by others. For nearly 200 years 
they never wholly died down, but the hard fighting was at 
eight different times. The wars were called the Cru-sades', 
or Wars of the Cross, because the Christian soldiers wore 
crosses on their coats. 

Millions of men lost their lives in this dreadful struggle, 
Init many lived to go back to their homes in Europe. They 
told wonderful tales of the strange lands where they had 
fought, and of the curious and l)eautiful things they had 
seen there. They told of beasts and l)irds, fruits and flowers, 
peoples, dress, houses, furniture, and customs that seemed 
very strange. 



2 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

How do you suppose this made the people feel who had 
stayed at home? Of course, they also wanted to visit these 
lands, and many who had never loeen far from home began 
to travel to Asia. 

They had known nothing of the great world outside of 
the little place where they had grown up. Imagine how 
surprised they were to find that the people of the East 
understood many arts of which they themselves knew 
nothing. 

They found soft, fine silks and other rich cloths to wear, 
spices which made their food taste better, rugs to warm and 
soften the floors, and man}" of the comforts of life. 

Wishing to take some of these things back home, they 
traded for them things they themselves had made. This 
business of trading kept growing, as time went on. In 
Ven'ice and Gen'o-a there were merchants and sailors who 
took a large part in it. Look at your maps and see if you 
can tell why boys growing up in those cities should take to 
the sea. 

From these two cities great merchant fleets saiknl out, 
and returned loaded with goods from the East. These goods 
had to he brought on the l^acks of camels, horses, and 
mules, all the w^ay from Per'sia, InVli-a, and Chi'na, down 
to the ports where the ships were waiting for them. Pict- 
ure to yourself long lines of these beasts of l)urden as they 
wound along their way to the sea-coast. 

At one time there were three main routes by which the 



CHRISTOPHER coLr:\rnr's 



caravans reached the sea. All were costly and full of daii<2;(M', 
for it was the custom of the Turks to pluiid(M' the carax ans 
or to force them to give up a part of their goods Ix'fore they 
would let them go on. 

The most northern route. led through the Black Sea by 
way of what is now southern Russia. But in 145:^ the 
Turks captured Con-stan-ti-no'ple and cut off this route. 
This was a hard blow to Genoa, 
for that city had always used 
the northern route. 

But it was a blow felt l)y 
all Europe, for other nations 
had become eager for a share 
in the Eastern trade. It hap- 
pened, too, just when the desire 
for Eastern goods was growing 
very fast. 

For a long time men had 
been trying to find a way to 
reach India, China, and Japan by water, so as to escape 
the dangers l:>y land. Now they felt that such a route 
must be found. 

Por'tu-gal and Spain were the two nations whose sailors 
went most to sea. So they took the lead in the search for 
this all-water route. 

Portugal set out to find it by sailing down the west coast 
of Africa. It was very slow work, luit at last a brave sea 




Christopher Cohimbus. 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



captain of that country, A'as'co da Gam'a; reached the 

most southern end of Africa. 

He called it the "Cape of Storms." You can guess why. 

But the King of Portugal said, "It shall be called the Cape 

of Good Hope." Can 
you think why he gave 
it that name? 

When Portugal 
had found her route 
by sailing south, Spain 
dared not sail over it 
herself for fear of 
trouble with Portugal. 
So she had to find an- 
other way. 

The man who 
showed her how was 
Chris'to-pher Co- 
lum'bus. He was not 
a Spaniard. Let us see 
how it came about 
that Spain was the 

countiy to send him out and get the glory for what he did. 
Columbus was born in Genoa. His father was a poor man, 

who earned his living by making wool ready for the spinners. 
We do not know much about the boy Christopher, but 

we can well believe that he was fond of playing on the 




He was fond of playing on the wharves. 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 5 

whan'es near his home. Here he could see hundreds of 
vessels coming and going. We may be sure that he spent 
many hours watching their white sails. Most likely he 
was fond of the water and learned while he was quite young 
to swim and to sail boats. 

But he did not play all the time. He had work to do 
like other boys. He learned his father's trade, and he also 
went to school, where he learned reading, writing, arith- 
metic, geography, and map-drawing. All these were of 
great use in his later life. 

He must have heard older people talk a great deal about 
the loss of the Eastern trade after the Turks had shut up 
the Black Sea route, and about the need of finding a new 
route over the ocean. 

YEARS OF TRIAL FOR COLUMBUS 

Many years later, when he had become a grown-up man, 
he went to live in Lis'bon, which, you know, is the capital 
of Portugal. Here lived one of his brothers, and here, as 
in Genoa, lived many sailors. Here again he must have 
heard much talk about finding a water route to India. 

Columbus listened earnestly to sailors' stories; he stud- 
ied maps and charts; he thought a great deal. 

It seemed to him that the earth must be round like a 
globe, instead of flat as many others supposed. He tried to 
get all the proofs he could of this. He also took many voy- 
ages himself. 



6 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

After many long years of study, he felt sure that he 
could get to India by sailing straight across the Atlantic 
Ocean. He would go right in the opposite direction from 
that in which India lay. "The way to the East is ])y the 
West," said he. 

If he should be able to reach India in this way, he would 
prove that the earth was round and would bring the wealth 
of the Indies to Europe. 

The more he thought about this great plan, the more he 
longed to carry it out. In fact, he thought of it by day and 
dreamed of it by night. 

But he was poor and he had few friends. How could 
he get money and help to make his great dream come true? 

At last he laid his plan before King John of Portugal. 
But the king would not promise to help him. 

Columbus then took his little son Diego (de-a'go) by 
the hand and started across the mountains to Spain. We 
may picture father and son hurrying along the rough moun- 
tain roads. Columbus could hardly stop to see whether 
his little boy was tired, so eager was he to find some one 
to help him. 

When he came to a place near the town of Pa'los, he 
left Diego with an aunt, and set out alone in search of the 
king and queen, Fer'di-nand and Is'a-bel-la. 

At that time a war was going on in the south of Spain 
between the Spaniards and the Moors. So Columbus had 
a hard time getting them to listen to him. 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 7 

At last they gave him a hearing. They liad asked a 
number of wise men to be present. Some of them laughed 
at Columbus for saying that the earth was round like a 
globe. Others said, "We lielieve he is right." 

But the king and queen would not help him. Sick at 
heart, therefore^ he planned to leave Spain and go to 
France. 

Up to this time he had failed. He was poor and had 
few friends. Men said, ''He is a crazy dreamer." When he 
walked through a \'illage with sad face and threadbare 
clothing, the l^oys laughed at him. 

But Columbus did not give up hope. He had faith in 
his plans, and believed that sometime he should succeed. 
He started l^ravely, therefore, for the court of France, 
taking Diego with him. 

At that time, we are told, Columbus was a fine-looking 
man. He was tall and strong, and had a noble face with 
keen blue eyes. His white hair fell in long wavy locks about 
his shoulders. Although his clothing was plain and per- 
haps shabby, there was something in his manner that made 
people like him. 

After father and son had walked about a mile and a half, 
they stopped at the Convent of St. Maiy. Perhaps they 
wanted some bread and water. Just then the good Pri'or 
of the Convent was passing by and the two men began to 
talk together. 

Columbus reasoned well about his plans. The Prior 



8 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

listened closely, and then wrote at once to Queen Isabella, 
who knew him and believed in him as a wise and good man. 
This letter proved a help to Columbus, for a little 
later the queen told him she would furnish him with men 
and vessels for the voyage. 




Santa Maria Piiita Nina 

The Fleet of Christopher Coliimbus. 



But even with the queen's help, he still had many trials 
before him. The ocean was unknown. The sailors were 
afraid to go out far from land upon the deep, dark waters. 

In the course of time, however, three small vessels with 
one hundred and twenty men were ready to start. The 
vessels were not larger than many of our fishing-boats 
to-day. The largest was the San'ta Ma-ri'a and was 
commanded by Columbus. It was about ninety feet long, 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 9 

and was the only vessel of the fleet which had a com- 
plete deck. 

A half hour before sunrise on Friday morning, August 3^ 
1492, the little fleet sailed out of the port of Palos. It was 
a sorrowful time for the poor sailors and their friends. All 
])elieved that the vessels would be lost, and that the sailors 
would never again see home and family. 

When, about a month later, they left the Canary Islands 
and the furthest land known to them faded from sight, the 
sailors cried like children. 

Fresh worries lay before them. At the end of a week 
the compass needle no longer pointed to the North Star. 
Of course, the poor sailors were in great fear. 

A few days later the fleet entered a vast stretch of sea- 
weed. Again the sailors were much troubled. They feared 
that the vessels would stick fast in the grass, or run upon 
rocks lying just below the surface of the water. But when 
the wind blew up a little stronger, the vessels passed on in 
safety. 

Later on they entered the belt of trade-winds, which 
blew them steadily westward. They said: "We are lost! 
We can never see our friends again!" They begged Colum- 
bus to turn about and steer for home. 

He refused. They became angr}^, called him crazy, 
and even wished to kill him. One of them said: "Let 
us push him overboard some night when he is looking 
at the stars." 



10 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Columbus knew his life was in danger, but he would not 
give up. He still had faith and hope. The greater the dan- 
ger, the more firmly he set himself to meet it with an iron 
will and a high puipose. 

At last, on October 11, signs of land such as birds and 
l:)roken bits of trees appeared. That night no one slept. 



COLUMBUS 

TIliST YOVA(iE, 
1492-3 







arLF OF \j -, ^^,^'*^^■t>■ ' Columbus J^'' t — 

MEXICO _r^»*N/r — ^^^1 

■*?S%S.'.' ..vs^"/ '* T L A N T I C 




•Ql'Or.TCl RICO 



O C E A. N 



PA C I F I 
(I C E A y 




The First Voyage of Columbus, and Places of Interest in Connection 
with His Later Voyages. 

Every one was straining his eyes to catch the first glimpse 
of the distant shore. 

About ten o'clock in the evening Columbus himself saw 
a moving light in the distance. It looked like a torch in 
the hand of a man who was running along the shore. 

COLUMBUS AND THE NEW WORLD 

Earl}' in the morning little boats were lowered, and 
eveiybody went ashore. Columbus, dressed in a rich robe 
of bright scarlet, carried in his hand the royal flag of Spain. 
As soon as he reached the land, he fell on his knees. With 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 11 

tears in his eyes he kissed the earth and thanked God for 
the safe voyage. 

Columbus called the dark-skinned natives Indians, be- 
cause he thought he was in the East Indies. At first the 
Indians ran into the woods because they were afraid, but 
soon they came back, curious to learn about these strange 
visitors. 

They worshipped the white men, thinking the}' were 
beings from the sk}-. They believed the vessels were great 
birds, and that the sails were great white wings. 

Columbus called the island upon which he had landed 
San Salvador, which means Holy Saviour. 

Sailing on, he reached the coast of Cuba. 

Now he thought he was in Japan, and called the island 
Ci-pan'go (Japan) ; and he kept on the lookout for the 
cities of Asia. In them he expected to find the gold, spices, 
and jewels he was looking for. But he found no cities; 
and he found no gold, no jewels, and no spices. 

On Christmas morning he had a serious mishap. While 
it was still dark, one of his little vessels ran ashore on a 
sand-bar and was knocked to pieces by the waves. Another 
of his vessels had already deserted the fleet, so now he had 
but one left. 

On Januaiy 4, 1493, he sailed for Spain. After a very 
stormy voyage, on March 1") he entered the harbor of 
Palos. 

It AMIS a jo}'ful day for the people and the}' stopped all 



12 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

business to give a welcome to Columbus. His praise was 
now on every man's lips. 

Soon he went to Bar-ce-lo'na, where he was honored 
by a street parade. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella 
sent for him, and when he came into their presence they 
honored him by rising. As he knelt to kiss their hands, 
they commanded him to rise and sit with them as an equal. 

The idle dreamer had become a great man. Everybody 
was eager to share his honor and his fame. It was now 
easy to get the most powerful men in the country to join 
him on a second voyage. 

In September, 1493, he sailed with a fleet of seventeen 
vessels. This time he had with him 1,500 men, and many 
of them were from the best families in Spain. They meant 
to stay in the "Indies" long enough to become rich men, 
and go l3ack to Spain to live as grandees. They expected 
to use gangs of the natives to dig gold for them. 

On reaching Hayti Columbus built a little town, and 
then started to explore the new country. But troul^le met 
him on every hand. The Indians were not always friendly, 
and his own men were often unwilling to obey him. They 
had not come to do hard, rough work, but to make fortunes 
at once. 

At the end of three years, he sailed back to Spain. Dur- 
ing a long and trying voyage all the food on l^oard was used 
up, so that he and his men almost starved. But at last he 
reached home. 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 



13 



A few years later he sailed on a third ^'oyage. More 
troubles were waiting foi- him. When he reached the little 
town which he had built in 
Hayti, he found things were 
going badly. The Indians 
were unfriendly, and serious 
quarrels had broken out 
among the settlers them- 
selves. 

For two long years Co- 
lumbus tried to make things 
right, but he could not. At 
length an officer was sent 
from Spain to see how things 
were going in the colony. 
He unjustly put Columbus 
in chains and sent him back 
to Spain. 

Queen Isabella sent for 
him to come to court, and 

he appeared before her still l^ound in chains. When she 
saw him she wept, and he also broke down and wept at 
her feet. 

Having been set free, a few years later he went on a 
fourth voyage. Again he met trouble after trouble. First, 
his ship was wrecked, and then he spent a long, painful 
year of hardship and misery. 




Columbus in Chains. 



14 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

At last he sailed back to Spain, where he arrived only a 
short time before Queen Isabella died. He lived only 
eighteen months after this, for he was broken in health and 
felt that he had little to live for. 

On May 20, 1506, he died of a broken heart. Up to the 
very last he thought he had sailed only to the Indies. He 
never knew that he had discovered a new world. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Why (lid Spain and Portugal wish to find an all-water route to 

India, China, and Japan? 

2. How did Columbus come to believe that he could reach the Far 

East by sailinji' west across the Atlantic? 

3. Imagine yourself with him on liis first voyage and tell all you can 

about his trials. 

4. What land did he think he had reached? What was his great 

work? 

5. What do you admire in Columbus? 



CHAPTER II 
JOHN CABOT AND AMERICUS VESPUCIUS 

JOHN CABOT • 

At the time when Columbus sailed on his first voyage, 
another sea-captain, born in the very same city as Columbus, 
was planning to sail westward in search of the In'dies. This 
was John Cab'ot. He was born in Genoa, had his home later 
in Venice, but was now living in Bristol, England. 

He had travelled much, and had spent some time 
in western Asia, where he had seen a caravan loaded with 
spices. After he returned to England, he asked King 
Henry VII if he might go on a voyage of discovery, and the 
king gave his consent. 

But it was not until May, 1497, nearly five years after 
Columbus had first sailed, that Cabot put out to sea with 
only one small vessel and eighteen men. He sailed straight 
west and landed on the coast of Lab'ra-dor. 

He was the first sea-captain to reach the mainland of 
North America, for Columbus did not do this until his 
second voyage in 1498. 

On Cabot's return to England he was called the " Great 
Admiral." He was treated with much honor. The simple 
sea-captain now dressed in fine clothing like the noted men 
of those days. 

15 



16 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



The following year, with six vessels, he made another 
voyage. Where he went, what he found, whether he ever 
came back, we do not know. But it is rather likely that he 




Jolin Cabot in London. 



went to what is now Flor'i-da. On the strength of what 
England declared that he had discovered, she at a later 
time claimed all of North America. 



AMERICUS VESPUCIUS 

From what you have learned, you will probably think 
that the New World should have been named after Colum- 
bus. The reason why it was not can be told in a few words. 

After Columbus had led the way, many other explorers 
sailed for the West. Among them was A-mer'i-cus Ves- 
pu'cius. 

How many voyages he made, and just when he made 



JOHN CABOT AND AMERICUS VESPUCIUS 



17 



them, we do not know. But it is thought that he sailed 
along the coast of Bra-ziK, or perhaps along a part of the 
eastern coast of South America 
lying south of Brazil. He wrote 
letters also in which he told 
what he had seen in his voyag- 
ing, and what he said in these 
letters was the first printed ac- 
count of the mainland of the 
New World. 

The good accounts that Ves- 
pucius wrote of what he had 
seen were read by German geog- 
raphers. They liked the ac- 
counts because they were so in- 
teresting. One of these geographers also supposed that 
Americus Vespucius was the first man to discover the New 
World. So the land that Columbus discovered came to be 
called America. 




Americus Vespucius. 



Some Things to Think About 

1. Who was John Cabot? What was he the first man to do? 

2. Why was the New World called America? 



CHAPTER III 
THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

As we have learned, Columbus called the people of the 
New World Indians. They did not live close together like 
the people in Europe, but were scattered all over the coun- 
try. Yet many of them were related, so that really they 
formed five great groups, or families. 

Those which we must know about are the three living 
east of the Mis'sis-sip'pi River. These were the South'ern 
Indians, the Tro-ciuois, and the Al-gon'quins. Let us take 
our maps and see where each of these three lived. 

The Southern Indians lived, mostly, in a belt lying be- 
tween the Ten-nes-see' River on the north and the Gulf of 
Mex'i-co on the south. This belt extended from the Mis- 
sissippi River clear to the Atlantic Ocean. 

The Iroc|Uois Indians were made up mainly of the five 
tribes, or Five Nations, as they were called, of central New 
York. 

Leaving out the Iroquois, all the other tribes spreading 
east from the Mississippi and north from the Tennessee 
clear up into Can'a-da were called Algonquins. 

Although the Indians of the different tribes did not 
look alike, we may say that, as a rule, they had straight 

18 



THE AMERICAN INDIANS 



19 



black hair, small black eyes, high cheek-bones, and copper- 
colored skins. 

The women wore their hair long. The men in most of 




In each wigwam lived a wliole family. 

the tribes shaved their heads, except at the top, where they 
left a scalp-lock. 

The dress of the Indian was made largely of the skins of 
wild animals. Instead of leather shoes, like ours, he wore 
moccasins made of skins. 



20 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 




An Iroquois "Long House.' 



The pieces of the moccasin were sewed together, although 
the Indians had no needles and thread. What do you think 
they used? Their needles w^re small sharp fish-bones, 

and their thread 
the tough sinews 
of deer or some 
other wild ani- 
mal. 

Many of the 
Indians lived in 
little villages. 
In some tribes 
these villages 
were made up of wigwams, in each of which, small as it 
was, lived a whole family. 

The wigwams were tents, covered inside and out by 
skins, mats, or bark. Sometimes a l3ear's hide was used 
for a door. There was no floor except the bare earth. 
Here, in the centre of the wigwam, the fire was built, and 
the smoke was let out through a hole at the top. There 
was no carpet, but soft skins kept the feet out of the mud 
or off the frozen ground. 

Some tribes had other kinds of dwellings than wigwams. 
The Iroquois built huge log cabins called ''long houses," 
with side rooms screened off by skins. Some of these houses 
were one hundred feet long, and as many as twenty families 
with all their relatives could live in one of them. 



THE AMERICAN INDIANS 



21 



The Indians of the Southwest had the strangest dwell- 
ings of all. They were made of a-do'be, or clay baked in 
the sun, and were called pueb'los. The chief ones were 
many times larger than the ''long houses," and the people 
of a good-sized town of to-day could live in a single pueblo. 




Sometimes these strange pueblos were perched high on the cUfls. 

There was one large enough to furnish homes for five thou- 
sand persons. Indeed, each pueblo was a kind of apart- 
ment house, town, and fort all in one. 

Some were two stories high, some were four, and others 
as high as seven stories. Each story was set back a little 
from the one below it, so that the roof of the first be- 



22 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

came the sidewalk, or street, of the second, and so on to 
the top. 

Nobody ever called out, "Don't slam the door," to the 
Indian boys and girls who lived in these pueblos. For 
eveiyone had to climb to the top of his home on a ladder 
and let himself in through an opening in the roof. Can you 
guess why they chose such a strange way of getting into 
their houses? It was because they thought that if the en- 
trance was on top, it would not be easy for an enemy to 
surprise them. 

Sometimes these strange pueblos were perched high on 
the cliffs to make it still harder for enemies to reach them. 
The people living in these strongholds were called cliff- 
dwellers. They built on high places because they were 
weak and afraid of their enemies. 

The strong tribes always built their pueblos close to a 
river or lake. In this fish could be caught, and in the 
gardens nearby the squaws could till the soil. 

THE INDIAN BRAVE AND THE SQUAW 

You may sometimes hear it said that the squaw had to 
do all the work. People who say this believe that the 
Indian brave was lazy, and wished to make a slave of his 
wife. 

But this is not true, for the man had his own work just 
as the woman had hers. Hunting and fishing were his 
share; and any tribe whose men did not keep themselves 



THE AMERICAN INDIANS 



23 




=©^ 1 



trained for fighting and on the watch for foes would soon 
have been killed or made slaves of by some other tribe. 

The Indian brave was quite willing to make arrows, 
bows, canoes, and 
other tools which 
he might need. But 
he felt too proud to 
do what he thought 
was a squaw's work. 

The squaw kept 
busy about the home 
clothing 



- 3 



1. Hunting Arrow. 2. Arrow for War. 3. Fish Spear. 



Slioshonee Bow. 



ITTS 



She cooked the food and made the 
She tended the patches of corn, melons, beans, 
squashes, and pumpkins. In doing 
this she scratched the ground with 
simple tools like pointed sticks, or 
stone spades, or hoes. She also 
gathered wood, made fires, and 
set up the wigwam. 

But the squaw's first duty was 
to care for the children. She had 
a queer-looking cradle, or cradle- 
board, for her little pap-poose', 
as she called her child, and used 
it till the baby was two years old 
or so. 

The cradle was some two feet 
A Pappoose Case. long, and nearly a foot wide. It 




24 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



was covered with skins, the outer one forming a pocket 
which was hned with grass and moss, making a soft Uttle 
nest where the baby snuggled. She carried it on her back 
when walking. But when at work she stood it against a 
bush or rock or hung it on a low bough. 

Perhaps you have heard your mother sing to the baby: 

"Rock-a-bye baby upon the tree-top, 
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock; 
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall — 
Down comes rock-a-bye baby and all." 

This song came from the Indian mother's habit of hang- 
ing the cradle on a tree. 

The Indian boy did not go to a school like yours. His 
lessons were learned out of doors, and his books were the 

woods and the lakes and 






m 



the running streams 
about him. By watch- 
ing, and listening, and 
trying, he learned to 
swim like a fish, to dive 
like a beaver, to climb 
trees like a squin^el, and 
to run like a deer. 

As soon as he could hold a bow and arrow, he was taught 
to shoot at a mark and to throw the tomahawk. 

He had also to learn how to set traps for wild animals 




An Indian Pipe. 



THE AMERICAN INDIANS 



25 



and how to hunt them. He learned to make the calls of 
wild birds and beasts. For if he could howl like a wolf, 
quack like a duck, and gobble like a turkey, he could get 

nearer his game 
when on the hunt. 
He had to learn 
how to track his 
enemies and how 
to conceal his own 
tracks when he 
wished to get 
away from his 
enemies. He had 
to become a brave, 
strong warrior, 
and be able to kill 
his foe and pre- 
vent his foe from 
killing him. 

For, after all, 
the most impor- 
tant part of his work when he grew up was to fight the 
enemies of his tribe. If he did not make war upon them, 
they would think he was weak and would attack him. So 
whether he wished or not, he had to fight. 

Most boys like to ''play Indian" and surprise those 
who they pretend are enemies. The real Indians were very 




A light bark canoe, easily carried 




26 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

fond of this kind of fighting by ambush. They would hide 
in the woods and then suddenly rush out upon their foes 
as they passed or shoot them down. 

They learned to keep so perfectly still and so com- 
pletely out of sight behind the trees or in the bushes and 
tall grass that the enemj^ would not suspect there was 
anybody near. Thus many of the enemy would be killed or 
captured while they themselves lost very few men. 

On returning home, the war party would often bring 
back captives. Some of 
these they might adopt 
into their own tribe, for 
often their numbers be- 

Snow-shoes. 

came much thinned by 

war. But sometimes the captives were tortured and put 
to death. Does it not seem strange that any one could 
enjoy seeing people suffer? 

The Indian's way of travelling from place to place was 
very simple. When he was looking for fresh hunting-grounds 
or new streams or lakes for fishing, or when he was with a 
war party, as a rule he went on foot. Sometimes he took 
a forest path or trail, but it was much easier to travel by 
water. Then he found his light bark canoe very useful. 
Two men could easily carry it, and even one could carry 
it alone over his shoulder. 

Its framework was strips of wood, fastened together by 
tough roots or sinews. This was covered by pieces of bark 



THE AMERICAN INDIANS 27 

sewed together. The whole was made water-tight by fill- 
ing the seams with pitch and grease. Sometimes such a 
canoe would hold fifty people. 

In the winter, when the lakes and rivers were frozen, 
the canoe was no longer useful. Then, if the Indian brave 
wished to go far, he used his snow-shoes. These were two 
or three feet long and a foot or more wide to keep him 
from sinking into the snow. They were light and strong, 
often being made of a maple-wood frame, filled in with a 
network of deer's hide or sinews. 

THE INDIANS AND THE WHITES 

Before the white men came, most Indians lived very 
simple lives as hunters, fishermen, and warriors. They had 
dogs, but there were no native animals which they could 
tame to give them milk like our cows, or to draw their loads 
like our oxen and mules, or to carry them like our horses. 

The Indians were at first very much afraid of horses, 
but afterward used them wdth much skill in making war 
upon other tribes and upon the white man. 

Before the white man came, the Indian had never seen 
a sword, a gun, an iron axe, nor a knife made of metal. 
But he soon learned how to use all these. They made life 
much easier for him. For a wooden bow, a stone tomahawk 
or hatchet, or an arrow tipped with bone or stone killed 
fewer animals and got him much less food than guns and 
sharp iron tools. 



28 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

You can see, then, that the coming of the white man 
greatly changed the red man's Hfe. 

But the Indian also changed the life of the white man. 
For when the early settler went out into the woods to live, 
he found it best to live much as the Indians did. 

He had to learn how to track his foe, and how to con- 
ceal his own trail through the forest. He even dressed 
like the Indian. He lived in simple houses like the ''long 
houses" of the Iroquois, only smaller. He ate such food 
as the Indians were likely to find in the forest, and like them, 
he many times suffered for want of food. 

Let us not forget, too, that more than once when food 
was scarce for all, the hungry settlers were kept from 
starving by the food which friendly Indians shared with 
them. 

Among the strange things which were a part of the life 
and work of the Indians are the mounds which they built. 
Many thousands of these have been found in 0-hi'o and 
other states of our country. They were of many shapes, 
some being large and some small. 

Thousands of them have been opened, and many relics 
found in them. Among these are knives and trinkets, 
arrow-heads and spades, stone axes and hammers, tools for 
spinning and weaving, and also water-jugs, kettles, pipes, 
and urns. 

At one time it was thought that the Mound Build'ers 
were a people who were far more skilful than the American 



THE AMERICAN INDIANS 29 

Indians. But the mounds themselves, with their rehcs, 
leave no doubt now that they were the work of Indian 
tril^es. In fact, we know that some of these mounds were 
built by the Cherokee Indians, after the white people came 
to America. 

So we think that probably all the Mound Builders were 
just American Indians, like the other tribes which the early 
settlers found when they came to the New World. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Imagine yourself in an Indian wigwam, and describe what you see. 

What was the "long house"? the pueblo? Who were the 
cliff-dwellers? 

2. What was the work of the Indian brave? of the squaw? 

3. Imagine yourself an Indian boy Hving in a wigwam, and tell where 

you learn your lessons and the things you must learn to do. 

4. Tell all you can about the bark canoe and the snow-shoe and their 

use by the Indians. 

5. How did the white man change the life of the Indian, and how did 

the Indian change the white man's life? 



CHAPTER lY 
VASCO NXXEZ BALBOA AND FERDINAND MAGELLAN 

BALBOA 

The Indians, as you now veiy well know, were not in 
the least like the people of India. Their lives were simple, 
and they had veiy few things to use or to enjoy. Colum- 
bus and those who followed him found none of the spices, 
jewels, and precious stuffs which they were seeking. 

But they did find rich mines of gold and silver, and new 
fruits and plants. They could also make the natives work 
for them as slaves to dig ore or till the soil. So they kept 
coming over to seek their fortunes as mine-owners or 
planters. Many of them settled on the Isth'mus of Pan- 
a-ma^ 

Among them was Bal-bo'a. He had heard from an 
Indian chief that beyond the mountams was a great sea 
and far to the south a countr}' rich in gold. As soon as he 
could get ready, he started out in search of both, taking 
with him about two hundred Spaniards and several hmidred 
Indians. This was in September, 1513. 

On his way across the isthmus one morning early he 
climbed the mountains. At the top he stopped and gazed, 
for stretching before him far away to the south lay a vast 

30 



BALBOA AND MAGELLAN 



31 



body of water. He had made a 
great discovery^ for he was the first 
white man to behold the Pacific 
Ocean. 

But the mountains were so thick 
with tangled underbrush and the 
journey was so hard that it took 
him and his men four days longer 
to reach the coast. Then, with a 
sword in one hand and a flag in 
the other, he walked into the rising 
tide of the new-found ocean, and 
took possession of it in the name 
of the King and Queen of Spain. 
He named it the South Sea, but 
you know it as the Pacific Ocean. 

Balboa had done more than dis- 
cover the Pacific, however. He had 
led the way in finding out that the land which Columbus 
discovered was not Asia at all. It was a New World. 




Balboa. 



MAGELLAN 

But men did not yet know whether they could reach 
the land of silks and spices by sailing west. The honor of 
making sure of this belongs to Fer^i-nand Ma-gel 'Ian. 

He was a Portuguese sea-captain. While a young man, 
he went to Lisbon just as Columbus had done. There he 



32 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



heard much talk about the great voyages in search of the 
Far East. One of these had been made by Vasco da Gama, 
who, you remember, in 1497 sailed around the Cape of 
Good Hope to India. 

For several years ]\Iagellan himself had been going to 
India l^y that route, but it took too long. So, like Columbus, 
he studied maps and charts to discover a shorter one. He 

was sure that, if he could find 
a passage through America, 
this route would be shorter. 
Of course he had no proper 
map of America, for it was 
still almost an unknown land. 
But he could sail into every 
ba}^ or river till he found one 
which went clear through. 

The king of his country 
refused to aid him. So, like 
Columbus, he turned to Spain. That countiy was so glad 
it had helped Columbus that it dared to take up this new 
plan. It gave him a fleet of five old vessels and two 
hundred and eighty men. With these in September, 1519, 
Magellan put out to sea. 

Many dangers awaited him. He had to face heavy 
storms, the fear that food and water would not hold out, 
and angry sailors, who were only too read}' to do him harm 
and make the voyage fail in order to get back home. 




Ferdinand Magellan. 



BALBOA AND MAGELLAN 



33 



Not until six months after leaving Spain did he find a 
well sheltered harbor. There he cast anchor, and there for 
the first time his men enjoyed a meal of fresh fish in place 
of salt junk. 

But they were still unhappy, for they had little bread 
and wine left and no hope of getting more. They begged 




The Strait of Magellan. 

Magellan to turn l^ack, but he would not. Then three of 
his captains plotted to kill him. But he was more than a 
match for them all, and the ships sailed forward. Soon one 
of them was wrecked, but Magellan still pushed on. 

At length the fleet entered a new passage. On eveiy 
side were great mountains. It was what we now call the 
Strait of Magellan at the end of South America. Again 
the sailors begged to return. "I will go on," said Magellan, 
"if we have to eat the leather off the ship's yards." WheU; 



34 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

a little later, he passed through the strait and beheld the 
ocean, he wept for joy. 

He had only three ships left, but still he headed west- 
ward. Then began a terrible voyage across Balboa's South 
Sea, which ^Magellan now called the Pacific because it 
seemed so peaceful. 

But though the ocean was calm, not so the sailors. Ma- 
gellan's troubles were still thick about him. The worst 
\\ere }'et to come, — terrible hunger, disease, and death. 
Those who did not die grew sick at heart. They kept alive 
only by eating the skins and leather wound about the great 
ropes of the ship. 

At last they reached some islands, which are now part of 
the Phil'ip-pines. But Death was waiting for the great cap- 
tain. In a fight \\'ith the natives the brave Magellan was slain. 

Those of his men who still lived pulled up the anchors 
and sailed for home. The voyage back was a long one. 
Not until September, 1522, nearly three years after setting 
out, did they arri^•e at the home port. Only one vessel, 
with eighteen starving sailors, got back to Spain. 

Such was the sad end of the most wonderful voyage that 
had ever been made. The gloiy of it has never faded. It 
meant a great deal to the men of those times, for there was 
no longer any doubt that the earth was round. ]\Ien now 
knew that the land discovered by Columbus was not the 
East Indies, but a New \Vorld. You know how they came 
to call it America. 



BALBOA AND MAGELLAN 35 



Somf: Things to Think About 

1. Who was Balhoa, and what did he do? 

2. What (hd Maj^elhui wish to do? What (hd he discover? 

3. Imagine yourseU" sailing with him on his ship, and tell something 

of the dangers that were all about him. 

4. How did his men suffer? Why did some of them desire to kill him? 

5. Why do we eall his voyage wonderful? What do you admire in 

Magellan? 



CHAPTER V 
HERXAXDO CORTEZ 

Twelve years after Columbus made his first voyage to 
America, a young Spaniard of nineteen, Her-nan'do Cor'tez 
by name, sailed on one of the fleets bound for the New 
World. After a stormy voyage, he landed at Cuba, where 
he lived for some years. 

There was something about this man that made others 
admire him and look to him as a leader. So when a strong 
commander was needed to head an expedition to ^klexico, 
he was chosen. 

He soon made his way to the eastern coast of that coun- 
try', reaching it in February', 1519. One of his first acts 
showed that he was bound to have his owni way. Soon 
after landing, he gave the order, "Sink all the ships." This 
he did to prevent any homesick soldiers from going back to 
Cuba. 

He could not afford to lose one, for he had only 450 
men. Yet with this small army, six small cannon, and 
fifteen horses, he dared to face any danger he might meet. 

And he had not far to go before danger came. He soon 
met a strong tribe which was unfriendly. They at once 
showed hatred for the white men and fear of the horses. 

36 



HERNANDO CORTEZ 



37 



Later he found that all the natives, even the ruling 
people of Mexico, the Az'tecs, and their chief, Mon-te- 
zu'ma, felt the same way, and he soon learned why. 

It seems that they be- 
lieved a story that long ago a 
fair-skinned being, called the 
Sky God, had been driven 
out of the countiy by the 
God of Darkness. 

During the stay of the 
Sky God among the Mexi- 
cans he had taught them 
much. ^Mlen he left them, 
he said, "Some day I shall 
return and become ruler of 
the country." The natives 
believed that Cortez was this Sky God, and Montezuma 
jealously thought, "Now I shall have to give up my power." 

So you see why all the Mexicans hated the white-skinned 
warriors with their coats of iron and their shining swords. 
Horses they had never seen l^efore, and the}' thought that 
the Sky God had brought those monsters from another 
world. 

But the Mexicans were not people who gave up easily. 
So the first tribe he met soon gathered courage to fight. 

Their army and their strange dress excited the won- 
der of Cortez and his men. They wore ciuilted cotton 




Hernando Cortez. 



38 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



coats, leather shields, and helmets trimmed with feathers. 
Their weapons were long bows, arrows tipped with stone, 




Horses they had never seen before, and they thought that the Sky God 
had brought those monsters from another world. 



lances, slings, and heavy wooden swords with blades of 
sharpened stone. 

They fought two battles. In each Cortez won the vic- 
tory, and then the natives felt quite sure that he was more 



HERNANDO CORTEZ 39 

than a man and that it was no use to fight him. After 
they had made peace, they sent at least a thousand warriors 
to march with him on toward the City of Mexico, for this 
tribe had been enemies of the Aztecs. 

A great surprise awaited the Spaniards when they first 
looked upon the city. They were astonished at its beauty. 
It stood on an island in a lake. From the shores of the lake 
three great roadways of solid mason-work, from twenty to 
thirty feet wide and from four to five miles long, led to the 
centre of the city. Where these roads met, stood a huge 
temple. Around it were steps of stone, one hundred and 
fourteen in all, leading up to an altar on top. Up these 
long flights of steps, it was the custom for religious proces- 
sions to wind their way for worship. 

As the Spaniards marched along the great roadways, they 
passed beautiful floating islands, and within the city they 
found canals which w^re used as streets. Here, canoes, 
gliding to and fro, reminded them of Venice, and blossom- 
ing gardens on the flat roofs seemed but another part of 
a beautiful dream. 

As soon as they reached the city, Cortez and his men 
were given charters in a large building near the great 
temple. 

To weaken the power of his enemies, Cortez invited 
Montezuma to visit him. Though treated as a guest, the 
chief was in reality a prisoner. The Aztecs were angry and 
eager for revenge, yet they feared to make war without the 



40 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



command of their king, and Montezuma dared not give the 
command for fear of instant death. 

But when at last during a rehgious festival the Spaniards 
attacked them and killed many of their leading men, the 



' y^^^mw 




Meeting of Cortez and Montezuma. 



Aztecs could hold themselves in no longer. They fell upon 
the Spaniards with great fuiy, crowded the streets, and 
swarmed over the roofs as they tried to get at their hated 
foes. 

Cortez forced Montezuma to go out on the roof of his 
house, and order the Mexicans to stop the fighting. But, 



HERNANDO CORTEZ 41 

as Montezuma's brother had now been made their leader, 
they did not obey their former king. With a shower of 
stones that filled the air, they struck him down. A few 
days later he died of a broken heart. 

After a whole week of hard fighting, Cortez saw that he 
must leave the city. He tried to steal away at night, but 
the Mexicans were on the watch and attacked him by land 
and by water. 

The fighting in the dark was frightful. Cortez barely 
got away after a large part of his army had been killed or 
captured. The next morning he was so overcome with 
grief by the loss and suffering of his men that he sat down 
upon a rock and wept bitterly. 

But he did not give up the idea of taking the city. With 
another army he returned about six months later and again 
made an attack. After five months the city surrendered, 
but it was half in ruins. Cortez had conquered Mexico. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. What was Cortez trying to do? 

2. Why were the Aztecs afraid of the Spaniards? Why did IVIonte- 

zuma fear Cortez? 

3. Imagine yourself as having been one of the Spaniards, and tell 

what you saw when you first looked upon the city of Mexico. 

4. Tell what happened to Montezuma after Cortez reached the city. 

5. What was the great work of Cortez? What do you tliink of him? 



CHAPTER VI 
FRANCISCO PIZARRO 

Not many years after Cortez conquered IVIexico, another 
Spaniard, equally daring, went to Peru, This soldier, who 
made his name famous, was Fran-cis'co Pi-zar'ro. 

He had served under Balboa and had been with him 
when the Pacific Ocean was discovered. Having heard 
many stories of the gold and silver lying south of Panama, 
he was eager to go there. 

In 1531, he sailed with three vessels, three hundred and 
fifty men, and fifty horses. A few months later, he landed 
on the coast of Pe-ru', and began to march toward Cuz'co, 
the city where the ruler dwelt. This ruler was called the 
In'ca. 

In Peru Pizarro and his men came upon many strange 
sights. They saw fields watered by canals, with growing 
crops of white potatoes, Indian corn, and fine, puffy white 
cotton, none of which grew in Europe. 

Men were pulling the wooden ploughs through the ground, 
for there were no horses and oxen. Although at times 
llamas were used for this purpose, they were too small and 
weak to do much. 

The Spaniards wondered at the fine roads. They were 

42 



FRANCISCO PIZARRO 



43 



about twenty-five feet wide and almost as level as our rail- 
roads are to-day. Of course you can see that it was not 
easy to build such roads in this country with so many hills, 
high mountains, and deep, broad valleys to cross. 

As Pizarro and his men climbed higher and higher on 
their way over the moun- 
tains, they saw here and 
there beautiful gardens on the 
mountain-sides. Although 
the marching was slow and 
hard, the little army kept 
going forward. 

At last, when the Inca 
learned that the white 
strangers were on their way 
up from the sea, in fear he 
sent messengers to Pizarro 
with gifts and words of 
welcome. Like the Mex- 
icans, the people of Peru thought the horses were strange 
monsters, and the guns thunder-bolts; so they were 
afraid. 

On meeting Pizarro, the Inca's messengers called him 
''Son of the Sky God," because they believed he had powers 
greater than those of human beings. 

After these greetings Pizarro marched to the city of Cax- 
a-mar'ca, and on November 15, entered it with a small army. 




A Street in Cuzco. 



44 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



He at once sent De So'to, a trusty captain, with thirty-five 
horsemen, to invite the Inca to visit him. 

De Soto found the Inca surrounded by women slaves, 
and by chiefs wearing cjuilted cotton clothes, and carrying 




The people of Peru thought the horses were strange monsters. 

weapons. They had lances, clubs, bows, slings, and lassoes. 

The Inca treated them politely and promised to return 
the visit the next day. 

But when Pizarro learned of the size of the Inca's army, 
he felt that his small body of men was in great danger. 



FRANCISCO PIZARRO 



45 



Brave as he was, do you think he slept well that night? It 
is more than hkely that all the Spaniards expected the next 
day would be their last. 

But Pizarro gave no sign of fear. He hid his men in the 




The Inca Making the Mark Upon the Wall. 

houses of Caxamarca, and sent a priest to meet the Inca. 
When the two met, the priest began to make a long speech, 
and handed a Bible to the Inca. The proud ruler threw it 
upon the ground, no doubt thinking it was something to 
harm him. 



46 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



No sooner had he done this than, at a given signal, the 
Spaniards rushed from the houses where they were hidden, 
seized the Inca, and 
for two hours cut 
down his followers. 

He was shut in a 
room twent3''-two feet 
long and seventeen 
feet wide. Reaching 
as high as he could, 
he made a mark upon 
the wall. He told 
Pizarro that he would 
fill the room with gold 
up to that mark for 
the Spaniards, if they 
would let him go. 
The crafty Spanish 
leader agreed to do so. 
At once messen- 
gers were sent to 
many parts of Peru, 
and the promised gold 
began to come in. For six months the natives toiled 
away, bringing, day by day, great loads of gold and silver. 
At last they got together what would now be worth many 
million dollars. 




The Death of Pizarro. 



FRANCISCO PIZARRO 47 

The greedy Spaniards were greatly pleased. For a time 
they treated the Inca with kindness. But a little later, 
fearing his power, Pizarro broke his promise, brought him 
to trial, and had him cruelly murdered. It was in this way 
that he made sure of conquering Peru (1533). 

But Pizarro was not to enjoy what he had won so un- 
fairly. A quarrel with one of his leaders soon brought him 
to a bitter end. 

One day at noon while he was at dinner, nineteen heavily 
armed men entered his palace and took him by surprise. 
He had not time to put on his armor, but he quickly seized 
a spear and fought like a lion. Although a white-haired 
man past seventy years of age, he cut down one after an- 
other in the fearful struggle he made for his life. 

Finally they overcame him, and he fell. Making a cross 
on the floor, he kissed it and breathed his last. With great 
joy his enemies shouted, "The tyrant is dead!" Such was 
the end of Pizarro, the fearless conqueror of Peru. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Why was Pizarro eager to go to Peru? 

2. Imagine yourself as having been with the marching Spaniards 

and tell something of the strange sights they came upon. 

3. What did the people of Peru think of the horses and guns of the 

Spaniards? 

4. Tell how Pizarro treated the Inca. What do you think of such 

treatment? 

5. Why was Pizarro murdered by his own men? Is there anything 

you admire in him? 



CHAPTER VII 



JUAN PONCE DE LEON AND HERNANDO DE SOTO 

PONCE DE LEON 

Among the many Spaniards who were seeking fortunes 
in the New World was Ju-an' Ponce de Leon (pon'tha da 
la-on'). He was governor of Por'to Ri'co about the time 
that Balboa discovered the Pacific. 

His health was poor, and he was no longer young. Hav- 
ing heard of a wonderful fountain of youth on an island 
not far to the north, he longed to drink of its waters, for he 
believed they would bring back his health and make him 

young again. So he got the 
consent of the King of Spain 
to explore and conquer the 
island on which he had 
been told this fountain 
could be found. 

Sailing north from Porto 
Rico, he reached land on 
Easter morning, 1513, and 
named the new country 
Flor'i-da, in honor of the day.* Of course he did not find 
the fountain of youth, and after sailing along the coast for 

* Pascua Florida is the Spanish name for Easter Sunday. 

48 




Routes Traversed by De Soto and 
De Leon 




Searching for the Fountain of Youth. 



50 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



many miles with his men, he returned to Porto Rico, 
remember him as the man who discovered Florida. 



We 



DE SOTO 

Most of the explorers sought, however, not youth, but 
gold. So many sailors had gone back to Spain with won- 
derful stories of what they had seen 
and heard that men were now eager 
to try their fortunes in the new 
land. Among these was Her-nan'do 
de So'to. 

You remember that he was with 
Pizarro in Peru. From there he 
went back to Spain with great 
wealth and honor. Hoping to find 
another land as rich as Peru and 
Mexico, he asked the King of Spain 
to make him governor of Cuba. The king did so, and also 
told him that he might conquer and settle Florida. 

De Soto easily found men to join his company. There 
were 600 in all, among them many gay nobles and daring 
soldiers. 

After reaching Cuba and planting a settlement there, 
De Soto, with 570 men and 223 horses, sailed for Florida. 
Two weeks later, in May, 1529, they landed on its western 
coast. 

A>ry soon their troubles began. The journey was full of 




Hernando De Soto. 



DE LEON AND DE SOTO 51 

danger. As there were no roads, the Spaniards had to 
make their way through thick woods and tangled under- 
brush, by following the trails of Indians and wild beasts. 
Even these trails often failed, and then they had to cross 
rivers and wade through swamps, not knowing where they 
would come out. 

The soldiers suffered also from hunger, for they had little 
meat or salt. Then too they had to fight the Indians much 
of the time, for, from the start, De Soto had treated them 
with great cruelty, and they hated the Spaniards bitterly. 

After a while, some of De Soto's men lost heart and 
begged him to turn back. But he said, "We must go for- 
ward." 

In the course of his march he reached the town of a giant 
chief who had made ready to receive the strangers. He 
sat upon cushions on a raised platform. All about him 
were his followers, and some of them held over his head a 
buckskin umbrella stained in red and white. 

He waited quietly for the coming of the Spanish horse- 
men, and showed no fear of their prancing steeds. But 
in spite of his grave dignity De Soto treated him with 
no respect. He compelled him to supply food, and then 
go with them to the next town. 

Here the Spaniards and the Indians had a bloody 
battle. It was one of the hardest ever fought in those early 
days between the white men and the red men. The Span- 
iards at last set fire to the houses, and by nightfall had 



52 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



killed all the Indians but three. Two of these fell while 

fighting, and the last one hanged himself with his bowstring. 

The battle was a serious one for the white men also. 

Many of them were killed or wounded, and most of their 







De Soto Keacliiag tliu Mississippi River. 



clothing, arms, and supplies were burned. In fact, they had 
to weave long grass into mats for clothing. 

They were in a pitiful condition, and longed to return 
to home and friends. Again they begged De Soto to go 
back, but he would not. 

At last the Spaniards reached the Mississippi, and after 
crossing it marched north along its western bank, still 
searching for gold. 



DE LEON AND DE SOTO 



53 



The next winter was long and severe, and their suffer- 
ings were ahnost greater than they could bear. De Soto 




Burial of De Soto. 



himself now gave up all hope. He decided to go to the 
coast and build ships to send for aid. 

When he reached the mouth of the Red River, he went 
with an Indian chief as a guest to his town. Here, sick at 
heart and weakened in body, he fell ill with a fever, and 
died in May, 1542. At first his followers buried his body 
within the walls of the town, but they feared that the 



54 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

red men might attack them if De Soto's death became 
known. So they dug up the body, wrapped it in blank- 
ets, and in the darkness of midnight lowered it into the 
black waters of the Mississippi. 

De Soto had come to America to seek wealth and honor. 
What he found was hunger, hardship, disease, and a grave 
in the mighty river he had discovered. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. \Miat was De Leon trying to find? What important thing did he 

do? 

2. Wliat did De Soto come to America to seek? 

3. Imagine yourself as having been with him, and tell all you can 

about your struggles with hunger, disease, and the Indians. 

4. Tell how De Soto treated the giant chief, and what was the out- 

come. 

5. What was the great work of De Soto? What do you think of him? 



CHAPTER VIII 



JACQUES CARTIER 

Thus far nothing has been said about the work of the 
French explorers. But France was not willing to be left 
out of the struggle for riches and power. She, too, wanted 
the gold, silver, spices, and jewels which all were seeking. 

Yet it was not until 1534 that she sent an explorer to 
find the Northwest Passage to China. The name of this l)oId 
and skilful sea-captain was Jacques Cartier (zhak car- 
ty-a'). He sailed along the coast 
of northeastern America, passed 
into the Gulf of St. Law'rence, 
and carried back to France a full 
report of what he had seen. 

The following year he made 
another voyage, this time up the 
St. Lawrence. He believed this 
river to be the passage through 
America which he was seeking. 

He landed at a little Indian 
village where Que-bec' now stands. 
The Indians did not want their rivals up the river to share 
in what the white men had taught them. So they told 

55 




Jacques Carlior. 



56 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



absurd stories of awful tempests and islands of floating ice 

to frighten him out of going further. But he pushed on. 

On his way upstream he came to another Indian vil- 




Cartier Arriving at Montreal. 



lage with a veiy steep hill back of it. He named it Mont- 
re-al', which is French for "royal mountain." 

Here the Indians flocked down to the shore, all eager to 
welcome the white strangers. They danced and sang, and 
brought gifts of fish and corn. 

After the Frenchmen had landed, the Indian women 
and children crowded about them, feeling in wonder of the 
white men's beards and touching their faces. 

Then the warriors brought their sick chief and placed 



JACQUES CARTIER 57 

him on the ground at Cartier's feet to be healed by his 
touch. 

After a brief sta}', the French went back to Quebec. 
There they spent a terrible winter, losing twenty-five of their 
number. At one time only three or four were well enough 
to care for the sick. As the ground was frozen so hard that 
they could not dig graves, they hid the l^odies of the dead 
in the deep snow-drifts. 

In the spring after this awful winter, Cartier was glad 
to go back to France. Five years later he tried again to 
plant a colony at Quebec, but again he failed. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. What was Cartier trying to find? 

2. Go with him in imagination up the St. Lawrence to Montreal, and 

tell what the Indians did when the Frenchmen landed. 

3. How did Cartier and his men suffer during the following winter in 

Quebec? 

4. Cartier did not find the Northwest Passage. Did he fail in any- 

thing else? 



CHAPTER IX 
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 

After the conquest of Mexico and Peru, Spain got from 
them a very great quantity of gold and silver, which she 
spent in making wars upon other nations. She had a 
strong desire to crush England, and bring that country 
under her power. 

When English seamen were captured by Spanish sea- 
men, some were thrown into dark prisons, some hanged, 
and others burned to death at the stake. • You will not 
need to be told, then, that Englishmen hated Spain, and no 
one hated her more than did Fran'cis Drake. 

He was a great sea-captain. He spent most of his life 
on the sea, and for many years fought against Spain, doing 
all he could to weaken her power. 

He made his first voyage to America as pilot for Sir 
John Haw'kins. While they were on the coast of Mexico, 
Spanish vessels suddenly swooped down upon them one day, 
took their gold and silver, and destroyed all but two of 
their ships. 

Of course, Drake was very angry. He became more 

bitter than ever against the Spaniards, and began to lay 

plans to attack their settlements and to capture their gold. 

58 



SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 



59 



On one of his voyages he sailed to Panama, and while 
there he went across the Isthmus. One day the natives 
took him to the 
top of a hill^ and ^^ 

from under the 
branches of a large 
tree he gazed upon 
the vast w^aters of 
the Pacific. 

He was the first 
Englishman to 
look u})on that 
ocean. In awe he 
fell upon his knees, 
and prayed that 
God would let him 
go out upon that 
water. For he knew 
that the Spanish 
ships were sailing 
there and gathering gold and silver to cany back to Spain. 

It was several years before he could make another 
voyage to the New World. Then by the help of some 
wealthy friends, he got together a fleet of five ships. They 
were richly fitted out. His table was set with dishes of 
gold and silver, and he himself dressed in fine clothes. 

The fleet sailed in November, 1577. After being nearly 




Young Drake Watching Vessels Put Out to Sea. 



60 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



two months out of sight of land, Drake and his men reached 
the coast of Brazil. Saihng along the coast they met with 

so man}^ severe 



storms and dense 
fogs that they 
were often forced 
to tm*n back, and 
two of their vessels 
were lost. 

In August of 
the next year the 
three vessels that 
were left sailed 
into the Strait of 
Magellan. Here 
for two long weeks 
they were tossed 
about by storms 
and head-winds. 
They feared their 
vessels might be dashed to pieces; but as Drake was brave 
and skilful, they passed safely on. 

It was a time of trial and hea\y loss. One of the ves- 
sels deserted, and after a while another was lost. Now 
only the flag-ship, the Golden Hind, was left; but Drake 
would not turn back. 

After sailing through the Strait, there w^ere no more 




Drake Sees the Pacific Ocean for the First Time. 



SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 



61 



storms. Then Drake went northward; passing along the 
western coast of the new continent, South America. 

Things looked brighter now, for he began to find the 
Spanish treasure he was seeking. In one harbor he captured 
a Spanish ship loaded with wine and gold, and in the harbor 
of Lima, he came upon 
Spanish ships lying at 
anchor, and took from 
them silks, linen, and a 
chest of plate. 

But he did not stop 
long, because he heard 
that a vessel loaded with 
treasure had just sailed 
out of the harbor for 
Panama. Eagerly he 
started after her, promising a golden chain to the sailor 
who should first sight the Spanish vessel. 

At last one of his men. saw her, trying hard to escape. 
After a hot chase, Drake overtook her and obtained a large 
quantity of gold and jewels. 

He now began to think of sailing back to England. But 
it did not seem wise to return by the same way he had 
come, because the Spaniards might be lying in wait for 
him. For this reason he made up his mind to sail west and 
reach England that way. 

On his homeward voyage, he stopped at the Philippines 




A Spanish Galleon of the Sixteenth Century. 



62 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



and other islands of the Pacific, where he traded with the 

natives and took on fresh food. 

Having explored these islands, he sailed for the Cape of 

Good Hope, and after several narrow escapes he reached the 

home port early in Novem- 
ber, 1580. His voyage had 
lasted nearly three years. 
At first the queen 
would not let him land, 
because in capturing 
Spanish ships Drake 
might have brought on a 

An English Ship of the Fifteenth Century. ^^^ ^-^j^ Spain. 

But later he was treated with great honor. He was in- 
vited to the Queen's court, and she herself came to dinner 
on board his ship, and made him a knight, so that from that 
time, he was called Sir Francis Drake. He was the second 
man and the first Englishman to sail entirely around the 
world. Can you think who had done this before? 




Some Things to Think About 

1. Why did Drake and other EngHshmen hate Spain? 

2. What did Drake do soon after he looked upon the Pacific for the 

first time? Why? 

3. Tell what you can about Drake's stormy passage through the 

Strait of Magellan. 

4. In what ways did he try to harm the Spaniards? 

5. Why did the Queen of England make him a knight? 

6. What great thing did he do? What do you admire in him? 



CHAPTER X 
SIR WALTER RALEIGH 

One of the foremost Englishmen that Hved in the time 
of Drake was Wal'ter Ra'leigh (raw'K). He was born in a 
town near the sea in the southern part of England. He was 
a fine-looking lad, full of life and fond of all out-door sports. 
In his home town lived many old sailors, who could tell the 
l)right, wide-awake boy stirring tales of life at sea and of 
hard fights with Spaniards. 

While he was still a youth of less than twenty years, he 
went to France and became a soldier; and later he joined the 
army of the Dutch in Holland, who were at war with Spain. 

At the age of twenty-seven, a few years after his return 
from Holland, he attracted the notice of Queen Elizabeth 
by a simple act of courtesy. One day as the queen with 
her attendants was passing along, Raleigh happened to be 
standing by. 

On seeing her stop when she reached a muddy spot, he 

quickly took off his beautiful velvet cloak and spread it 

across the way for her to walk upon. As a queen and a 

woman, this won her heart and made her a friend of the 

young Raleigh, who soon became one of the leading men in 

her court. 

63 



64 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



He was now a tall, handsome man, with dark hair, a 
high color, and blue eyes. He dressed in a striking way. 
On his hat he wore a pearl-covered band, and a black feather 



/ fli 







Raleigh Spreading His Cloak Before Queen Elizabeth. 



decked with jewels. His shoes, also, which were tied with 
white ribbons, were ornamented with gems. His richest 
suit of armor was made of silver. 

In those days rich men dressed much .^iiore brilliantly 
than women. Although Queen E-liz'a-beth herself had 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH 



65 



1,075 dresses decked with jewels of great value, and owned 
eighty wigs of various colors, yet the men of her court out- 
shone even her. 

While Raleigh had much money, he did not waste it. 
In fact, he almost always knew how to spend it wisely. As 
the stoiy goes on, you will see that 
we Americans owe him much for 
what he did in trying to plant an 
English colony in the New World. 

In 1578 he joined his half- 
brother. Sir Hum'phrey Gilbert, in 
a voyage to New'found-land with 
the purpose of planting a settle- 
ment on the coast of America. But 
this plan failed. 

Six years later Raleigh fitted out 
two vessels which he sent over to the New World to find 
out something al)out the country. On their return the 
men in charge of these vessels said they found the Indians 
friendly and the land beautiful. 

The queen was so pleased with this report that she said 
the new land should be called Vir-gin'ia in honor of herself, 
the Virgin Queen. 

The next year Raleigh sent out a colony of 108 per- 
sons. Sir Richard Gren'ville was commander of the fleet, 
and Ralph Lane was to be governor of the colony. 

They landed at Ro'a-noke. From the first they were 




Sir Walter Raleigh. 



66 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



most unwise, because they treated the Indians so harshly 
that they became very unfriendly. 

And the ill-will of the Indians was not the only trouble 
the colonists had. Food became scarce, and Grenville had 
to sail to England for more. 

While he was away, Lane started out to explore the 
Roanoke River, of which he had heard wonderful tales from 
^^^:^ the Indians. "This stream flows 
through lands rich with gold and 
silver," they said. "Its waters 
come out of a fountain which is 
so near the South Sea that in time 
of storm the waves break over into 
the fountain. Near this stream 
also," they added, "is a town sur- 
rounded by walls made of pearls." 
But Lane and the men who 
went with him found no such 
fountain or town. What they did 
Their food became so scarce that 
they had to eat dog flesh to keep themselves alive. 

When Lane returned, all were sick at heart, the future 
looked so dark. But about this time. Sir Francis Drake 
with 23 vessels cast anchor near the island. He had 
come from the West Indies, where he had been plunder- 
ing Spanish settlements, and was on his way to England. 
He agreed to leave food and a part of his fleet with the 




Queen Elizabeth. 



find was great hardship. 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH 



G7 



colonists. But when a heavy storm came up, the settlers 
in their fear begged to return to England, and he took 
them all on board. 

They had found no gold, but they took back to England 
things of far more value. These were sweet potatoes, 
Indian corn, and tobacco. 

Long before this first cargo had arrived in England, 
Grenville had returned to Roanoke with food. Finding 
no one there, he left 15 
men and sailed back home. 

Raleigh's second colony 

Most men would by 
this time have lost courage, 
but Raleigh was too strong 
and brave to give up. Two 
years later, he made an- 
other attempt. This time 
he sent Captain John WTiite, with 150 men, 17 women, and 
11 children. The company landed at Roanoke but could 
not find the 15 men left there by Grenville. 

Like the first colony, in a short time these settlers made 
enemies of the Indians. Very soon, also, food became scarce 
and they l)egged Captain White to go back to England for 
more. 

He did not wish to leave the colony. Nor did he like to 
say good-by to his little granddaughter, Virginia Dare, the 




Raleigh's Various Colonies. 



68 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



first white child born in the New World. But he knew they 
must have food, so he started. 

Before he left, the settlers agreed that if they should 
leave the place for any reason, they would cut into the bark 




Finding the Name Carved Upon the Tree. 



of a tree the name of the place to which they were going. 
They said also, "If we are in trouble, we will make a cross 
above the name." 

White reached home just as his countr}'men were prepar- 
ing to meet the attack of the great Spanish fleet, the "Ar- 



SIR WALTER RALEIGH 69 

ma'da." To defend herself, England needed eveiy ship 
that her seamen could get ready. So the two small vessels 
which Raleigh had fitted out for his colony were held for 
this great sea-fight. 

Almost three years went by before Captain White could 
return to Roanoke. When he at last arrived, not a single 
person was left. He found only some chests of books, some 
maps, and some fire-arms. 

You may be sure that he lost no time in looking for the 
message on the tree. He found " Cro-a-to'an " cut in cap- 
ital letters, but no cross. 

Now Croatoan is the name of an island near Roanoke. 
^^^lite therefore begged the captain of the vessel on which 
he was sailing to carry him to this island. But the weather 
was so stormy that the captain would not do so. 

AATiat became of the lost colony, no one has ever learned. 
Five times Raleigh sent out men to look for it, but he never 
heard from it again. Years afterwards it was found that 
four men, two boys, and one girl had been adopted into an 
Indian tribe. Very likely the rest of the settlers were killed 
by the Indians. 

Raleigh's work in America was over. Although he had 
failed to plant a colony, he had done something better. He 
had taught the English that they should not value the New 
W^orld so much for the gold and silver they might find in it, 
as for the homes they might build there for themselves and 
their children. 



70 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell how Raleigh spread his cloak across the way for Queen Eliza- 

beth to walk upon. 

2. Tell something about how Raleigh and the queen dressed. 

3. In what ways did the men of Raleigh's first colony act unwisely? 

4. What came out of his first attempt to plant a colony? What out 

of his second attempt? 

5. Raleigh did something better than plant a colony. What was it? 

What do you think of him? 



CHAPTER XI 
STORIES OF EARLY VIRGINIA 

Twenty years passed by after Sir Walter Raleigh's col- 
ony came to such a sad end before any one tried again. 

Then a group of merchants, nobles, and sea-captains, 
called The London Company, made another attempt to 
start a settlement in the New World. They hoped that 
the settlers might make the company rich by finding gold 
and silver, as the Spaniards had done, and by building up 
trade. 

As a beginning, the company sent out 105 men. These 
set sail from London on New Year's Day, 1607, in three 
frail vessels. 

But they were not the right kind of men to settle a new 
country. About half of them were men who had never 
done any rough, hard work, such as cutting down trees and 
chopping wood. They called themselves "gentlemen," and 
they expected to come over to America and pick up a fort- 
une without work. Then they would go back to England 
and live at ease the rest of their lives. 

Their voyage across the ocean was a long one, and it was 
well that they did not know what dangers and hardships 
awaited them. They sailed down to the Canary Islands 

71 



72 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

and from there to the West IndieS; where they stopped sev- 
eral weeks. 

It took them about four months to make the journey, 
and at the end their food was nearly gone. They had in- 
tended to land at Roanoke Island, where Raleigh's colony 
had been. But a storm drove them out of their course, and 
they entered Ches'a-peake Bay. 

From here they sailed up a beautiful river with the flowers 
of a southern May blooming on its banks. They named it 
the James, in honor of the King of England. 

Fifty miles from the mouth of the river, the voyagers 
landed and, after looking about, picked out a place in which 
to settle down, naming it after their king, James'town. 

You can imagine that when people come to live in a new 
land, there is a great deal to do. The first thing was to 
make some sort of shelter. Some of them quickly put up 
rude huts covered with bark or turf, some made tents of 
old sails, and some merely dug holes in the ground. 

Going to church did not mean for them going indoors, 
for their church had only an old sail for a roof, a plank 
nailed up between two trees for a pulpit, and logs of wood 
for seats. 

You boys and girls who like to camp out may think all 
this must have been great fun. But living in this way is 
not so pleasant if one has to do it all the time. 

Before they were fairly settled, trouble began. It was 
very hot in the new countiy, and the damp, unhealthy air 



STORIES OF EARLY VIRGINIA 73 

rising from the undrained swamps brought disease. Many 
of the settlers fell ill and tossed about on their rough beds 
in high fever. Sometimes three or four died in a single 
night. 

TheUj too, food became so scarce that each man had only 
a cupful of mouldy wheat or barley to last all day. 

To make matters even worse, the Indians were un- 
friendly. Very soon after the white men came, two hundred 
redskins had attacked them, killing one and wounding eleven 
of their number. 

After that, the settlers took turns in acting as watchmen. 
Each man had to be on guard every third night, and lying 
on the damp, bare ground caused more illness. Sometimes 
there were not five men strong enough to carry guns. 

JOHN SMITH AND THE INDIANS 

During the summer about half the colonists died. Per- 
haps none would have lived but for one brave and strong 
man. This was John Smith. 

According to his story, which, however, not everybody 
believes, he had already passed through many dangers in 
foreign lands, often narrowly escaping death. 

He had returned to England from the war with the 
Turks just in time to join these men coming to Virginia. 
Being fearless and quick to think what to do, he proved a 
great help to the colonists during this hard summer. 

When, however, the cooler days of autumn set in, the 



74 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 




John Smith. 



future looked much brighter. There was more food and less 
sickness. Game began to run in the woods, their garden 
vegetables ripened, and water-birds and fish were plentiful. 

Now that the colony was in better 
condition, Smith thought he ought to 
be looking for the passage to the 
"South Sea," as the London Com- 
pany had ordered them to do. 

You see, men were still searching 

for the shorter route to the East, 

and many even then believed that 

the Pacific Ocean lay just beyond 

the mountains west of Jamestown. 

It was December when Smith 

started out to explore, and the weather was cold. After 

some days, he reached the Chick-a-hom'i-ny River. 

When the water became too shallow for his boat, Smith 
changed into a light canoe and with two white men and 
two Indian guides paddled on upstream. 

Before long they landed. Then Smith left the white 
men in charge of the canoe, and with one of his Indians 
pushed his way into the forests. Soon they were set upon 
by two hundred Indian warriors, and Smith was captured. 
You may be sure he had an exciting story to tell, when 
he got back, of what happened to him during the next few 
weeks. 

He said that the Indians first tied him to a tree and 



STORIES OF EARLY VIRGINIA 75 

were about to shoot him. But to save his life, he pulled 
out an ivory compass and showed it to them, in this way 
arousing their curiosity. They looked at the needle moving 
about under the glass and tried to touch it. When they 
could not, they were puzzled. 

Smith then wrote a letter to his friends at Jamestown, 
telling them of his capture, and sent it by some of the In- 
dians. They could not see how the white man was able to 
make the paper talk. Thinking that he must be more than 
human, they spared his life. 

The Indians took Smith around to visit many of their 
villages, and at last to their chief, Pow-ha-tan'. 

This old chief lived in a "long house" on the York River 
fifteen miles from Jamestown. He was tall and strongly 
built. His face was round and fat, and his thin gray hair 
hung down his back. 

He was dressed in a robe of raccoon skin, and sat before 
the fire on a sort of bench covered with mats. Near him 
were young Indian maidens. At his right and at his left 
were warriors, and close to the wall on either side sat a row 
of squaws. 

What do you think happened next? Some of the war- 
riors placed two stones upon the ground, seized Smith, and 
laid him down with his head upon the stones. Then with 
clubs in their hands and arms raised they stood ready to 
kill him. 

But just at that moment, Smith tells us, the chief's little 



76 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

daughter, Po-ca-hon'tas, rushed forward and fell upon his 
body. She threw her arms about his neck and begged her 
father to spare his life. Powhatan did so and adopted 
Smith into the tribe. This was all according to an Indian 
custom which was sometimes followed to save a prisoner's 
life. 

Three days later, Smith was allowed to return to James- 
town. He had been away about two weeks. When he got 
back, he found the settlers were out of food. But that very 
day Captain Newport returned from England with fresh 
supplies and with one hundred and twenty new colonists. 

Pocahontas also, along with a band of Indian braves, 
soon came to the settlement bringing baskets of corn, wild- 
fowl, and other kinds of food. What a good friend and 
peace-maker this little maid was! 

The following summer Smith explored the Potomac River 
and various parts of Chesapeake Bay. He sailed 3,000 
miles and made some very good maps of the countr3\ On 
his return to Jamestown (September, 1608), he was made 
president of the council. 

Not many weeks later, Jamestown was again in trouble. 
The Indians had turned against the settlers. You see, 
Powhatan was afraid that if white people kept coming, his 
people would, before long, be driven from their hunting- 
grounds. So he planned to get rid of the Englishmen. 

He thought that by refusing to give them corn, he could 
starve them out. Smith, knowing well that the settlers 



STORIES OF EARLY VIRGINIA 



77 



must make a brave stand, with some forty armed men went 
to Powhatan's village and said, "We must have corn." 

"You can have it," said Powhatan, "if for every basket- 
ful you will give me an English sword." Smith at once 
refused, but he com- 
pelled the Indians to 
carry corn on board his 
boat. 

Although the old 
chief acted as if he were 
friendly, he was all the 
time planning to murder 
Smith and all his men. 
But again little Poca- 
hontas proved herself a 
friend to the white man. 
For that night, at the 
risk of her life, she came 
to Smith in the dark- 
ness and told him of 
his danger. The next morning Smith sailed away unhurt. 

But as he needed more corn, he stopped at another Indian 
village. Suddenly he found that hundreds of warriors with 
weapons were surrounding him. Boldly he seized their 
chief by the scalp-lock, and putting a pistol to his breast 
cried, "Corn or your life!" Then the Indians brought 
Smith all the corn he needed. 




Pocahontas. 



78 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

In this way Smith managed the Indians. It was well 
for Jamestown that he could manage the settlers also. For 
not long after he had brought back corn from the Indians, 
the colony had to face a new danger. Swarms of rats, which 
had been brought over in the ships, were eating up what 
little food they had. 

When this was discovered. Smith declared: "To save 
ourselves from starving, every man must turn to and help 
by working. He who will not help shall not eat." And 
every man had to obey the new rule. 

Although the lazy settlers did not like it, they set to 
work cutting down trees, building houses, clearing up the 
land, and planting corn. 

As we should expect, the outlook grew brighter. If 
Smith had stayed with them, we may well believe the col- 
ony would have prospered. But as he had received a wound 
which would not heal, he had to go back to England to have 
it treated. 

"the starving time " AND WHAT FOLLOWED 

When he left, Jamestown had five hundred settlers. 
Shortly after he had gone the Indians began to rob and 
plunder the settlement, even killing some of the settlers. 

Cold weather set in, and then there was much sickness 
and suffering. Sometimes several died in a single day. To 
make matters worse, before the end of the winter there was 
no food. 



STORIES OF EARLY VIRGINIA 



79 



The starving men tried in vain to live on roots and herbs, 
and then were driven to eat their dogs and horses. At the 
end of this dreadful winter, which was called "the starving 
time," only sixty of the five hundred men were left alive. 




Landing of Lord Delaware. 



Late in the spring a little vessel arrived from England 
with more men. They found the settlers so weak that they 
could hardly walk and quite unable to do any work. But 
oh, how glad they were to see friends! 

As the ship brought little food, they all decided to sail 
away to England. Before they got out of the mouth of the 
James River, however, they met Lord Del'a-ware. He was 
the new governor, and had come with three ships loaded 



80 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

with men and supplies. So they turned back, and the 
colony was saved. 

Lord Delaware made wise laws, and everybody seemed 
ready to do his part. But just as they were becoming hope- 
ful once more, the governor had to go back to England be- 
cause he was not well. ' 

Sir Thomas Dale was left in charge of the colony. He 
was a stern ruler, but he made one very good change. Ever 
since coming to Jamestown, the colonists had kept up the 
foolish plan of having one large storehouse which they used 
in common. That is, every man put in what he raised, and 
took out what he needed. 

As you might expect, the lazy men let the others do the 
work for them. But by the new plan, each settler was to 
have three acres of land for himself and was to turn into 
this common storehouse only six bushels of corn a year. 
The rest of his crop he could use as he pleased. 

This was much fairer. The lazy men had to get to work 
or starve, while the good workers raised so much that the 
colony after that not only had all it needed but could sell to 
the Indians. 

Another change that worked well was a new way of 
making laws. Up to this time the settlers had had nothing 
to do with managing the affairs of the colony. But in 1619 
a new charter allowed each settlement (there were now 
eleven) to send two men to an assembly to help make laws 
for all. 



STORIES OF EARLY VIRGINIA . 81 

Now that each man could keep for himself what he 
earned and have a share in making the laws, a better class 
of settlers came to Virginia. Men with families were willing 
to take their chances in the new country. 

Up to this time most of the men who came over were 
not married. Of course they expected to remain only a 
while and then return to England. But if they had their 
own homes they would be likely to settle for good in Virginia. 

Early in 1620 the London Company sent out a new kind 
of cargo. It was ninety young women to become wives of 
the settlers. Each settler, however, had to win the consent 
of the maiden he chose for his bride. When he had done so, 
he paid the company one hundred and fifty pounds of to- 
bacco, which was the cost of her passage from England. 
This all seems queer to us, but the plan worked finely, and 
many happy homes were started. 

The planters now had good reasons for being pleased 
with their new life. They were making money rapidly by 
raising tobacco, and they were all the time feeling safer and 
stronger as a colony because their numbers were growing 
larger. 

AN UPRISING OF THE INDIANS 

By 1622 the settlements extended from the coast along 
the James River up to where Richmond is now. They 
spread out, making a belt five or six miles wide on each side 
of the river. 



82 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



In some places the settlers had put up thick-walled 
block'houses and pal'i-sades, or rows of stakes, as a defence 
against attacks from the Indians. But so far no attacks 
had been made. 




Jamestown, 1622. 



® 



For years settlers and red men lived in peace and good- 
will with one another. The settlers freely visited the In- 
dian villages, and the Indians were welcome in the homes 
of the white men. To make the friendship even stronger, 
the Indian maiden, Pocahontas, married one of the leading 
white men, John Rolfe. 

But a change was about to take place. After Powhatan 
died, his brother became chief. He at once began to work 
in secret for the murder of all the white settlers in Virginia. 

The plan was that on a certain day all the settlements 
were to be attacked at the same hour. But until the time 
came, all the Indians were to pretend to be very friendly. 



STORIES OF EARLY VIRGINIA 



83 



Even on the morning when the outbreak took place, they 
carried game to the settlers' houses and sat down as friends 
at their tables. 

But when the hour of eight o'clock came, the Indians 
set upon them and shot or struck dead every white person 
within reach, in field or shop or even at the breakfast tables 
where they had been eating as guests. Before the day 
closed, they had slain over four hundred settlers and left 
some seventy plantations without a living soul upon them. 
There was hardly a household of which 
at least one member was not killed. 

How do you think the white men 
felt at such base treatment? Of 
course, they arose in their might, and 
hunted down the Indians like wild 
beasts, killing them l:)y hundreds. 
After conquering them they went 
back and took up the work of peace 
once more. 

TOBACCO AND THE PLANTATION 

They had found that the most 
money could be made by raising 
tobacco, so they planted many acres 
of it. But as tobacco would not grow year after year in 
the same soil, the planters had to own a great deal of land, 
that is, large plan-ta'tions. 




A Virginia Planter. 



84 



EARLY AATERICAN HISTORY 



To care for these plantations, many workers were needed. 
To meet this need poor boys and girls were brought over 
from England and bound to service until they should grow 
up. Later on men came who had agreed, before starting, 

to work a certain 
number of years for 
the man who paid 
their passage. These 
were called indented 
servants. 

Until the promised 
number of years was 
up, they could be sold 
by their masters, just 
as horses, tobacco, or 
anything else could be. 
But when they had 
worked off their debt, 
they became free and 
could hire out. Some, by saving their wages, after a time 
bought plantations of their own. 

Finally some negroes were brought to Virginia. Twenty 
came from Africa in a Dutch vessel (1619) and were sold as 
slaves. But for a long time the number did not increase 
very much. 

There were many rivers in eastern Virginia, and each 
planter tried to secure a plantation facing one of them. 




Vessel at Wharf Receiving Tobacco. 



storip:s of early Virginia 85 

There he could have his own wharf and load his tobacco, for 
market. If the stream was so shallow that a vessel could 
not sail up to the wharf, the tobacco was loaded on rafts 
and pushed downstream. 

Sometimes casks filled with tol3acco were rolled down to 
the landing over what were called "cor'du-roy roads," made 
of tree-trunks laid side by side in the mud. Then again 
the casks were pulled to the wharf l^y horses or oxen. 

When the vessel which took the tobacco to England came 
back, it brought such things as chairs and tables, pots and 
kettles, axes, hoes, ploughs, and clothing. In fact, for years 
after Jamestown was settled almost everything that the 
planter needed for his house and his plantation was brought 
from England by vessel to his wharf. 

Among the indented servants were masons, carpenters, 
blacksmiths, sawyers, spinners, and weavers. There were 
also coopers, who made the casks in which the tobacco was 
shipped. So before long, the simpler things needed could 
be made at home. 

The plantations were so large and so far apart, that no 
large towns grew up. But the many rivers and smaller 
streams made it possible for the planters to visit one an- 
other. If they could not go by water, they were very likely 
to ride on horseback over bridle-paths through the forests. 



86 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Some Things to Think About 

1. Why did men of the London Company make another attempt to 

start a settlement in the New World? 

2. Imagine yourself living in Jamestown that first summer, and tell 

all you can about the trials of the settlers. 

3. Go in imagination with John Smith to the "long house." Tell 

what Smith saw as he entered the house, and also how little 
Pocahontas saved his life. 

4. In what ways was she afterward kind to John Smith and the Vir- 

ginia settlers? 

5. Go in imagination with John Smith when he went to the Indians 

after corn, and tell what happened. 

6. Tell what you can about what Governor Dale did to do away with 

the common storehouse. Why was his plan a good one? 

7. Why did the Indians attack the settlement ? 

8. Why did the Virginia settlers raise so much tobacco and live on 

plantations? Why did most of the plantations face some river? 



CHAPTER XII 
STORIES OF EARLY MARYLAND 

At the time when the Jamestown settlers were having 
their hardest struggle with disease, famine, and Indians, the 
Catholics in England were also having a hard time. Some 
of them were fined and some of them thrown into prison for 
not obeying the laws about public worship. 

One of their number, George Calvert, Lord Bal'ti-more, 
resolved to plant a settlement in the New World where the 
Catholics could worship God in their own way without being 
punished. King James was his friend and gave him permis- 
sion to plant such a colony in New'f ound-land ; but it was 
too cold there. 

Lord Baltimore then got the consent of the new king, 
Charles I, the son of King James, to plant a colony in the 
lands lying north of the Po-to'mac. 

In November, 1633, two of Baltimore's vessels, the Ark 
and the Dove, sailed from England with between two and 
three hundred settlers. Only twenty of these called them- 
selves "gentlemen"; the rest were used to work. They had 
with them a good supply of food and tools. 

After a voyage of over three months, and a few days of 
rest at Point Comfort in Virginia, they reached the Potomac. 

87 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 




Near its mouth they landed on a httle wooded island, and 
planted a cross as a sign that it belonged to a Catholic people. 
The settlers were delighted with the beauty of the scen- 
ery, the blossoming river-bank, the strange trees, the wild 

grape-vines, the flocks of wild tur- 
keys, and the birds of bright colors. 
Friendly Indians, crowding the 
banks, gazed in wonder at the huge 
ships, scooped, they thought, like 
their canoes, out of single tree- 
trunks. They wondered where such 
great trees could grow. 

Sailing a few miles up the Po- 
tomac, the settlers entered a broad, 
inviting bay, which proved to be the 
mouths of some little streams. There was a good landing 
near its head, and they chose it for their first settlement. 
They named it St. Mary's, and the bay St. Mary's "River." 
The colony Lord Baltimore later called ilf ar?/-land, after 
the Queen, Hen'ri-et'ta Ma-ri'a. 

They found the Indians friendly, and bought from them 
a tract of land, paying for it with axes, hoes, and cloth. Of 
course you know the Indians could not use money. 

These Indians seemed glad to have the white strangers 
dwell in their country. They even let them have a part of 
their own village. Indeed, one of their chiefs gave up his 
cabin to the priest. Father White, to be used as a chapel. 



George Calvert (Lord 
Baltimore). 



STORIES OF EARLY IVIARYLAXD 



SO 



The Indian l^raves joined the white men in their work, 
and the squaws taught the women how to make loread of 




Friendly Indians, crowding tlie banks, gazed in wonder at the huge ships. 



pounded corn. When later the Indians brought wild-tur- 
keys and other food to the settlement, they received a fair 
price, and often spent the night with the white men. 



90 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

But although the Indians were friendly, this colony was 
not without its troubles. Its neighbors, the colonists of Vir- 
ginia, of whom you have just read, claimed the land where 
the Ma'ry-land-ers had settled and were angry at them for 
taking it. They disliked also to have a Catholic colony so 
near to them. 

But in time this trouble passed over. Lord Baltimore 
made all religions equal in the colony, and every one might 
worship as he pleased. 

There were other troubles of various kinds, but in spite 
of all Maryland grew and prospered. The climate was 
mild and healthful, the soil was good, and there was plenty 
of game. Deer, turkeys, and pigeons abounded in the for- 
ests; the streams were alive with swans, geese, and ducks; 
while Chesapeake Bay, as now, was the home of oysters and 
ter'ra-pin beyond number. 

Fancy what good things the little boys and girls of early 
Maryland had to eat, and what fun they must have had in 
helping to get them ! 

As in Virginia, nearly all the people lived on plantations, 
most of which were connected by water. Travel was 
chiefly by boats and canoes, or on horseback, as there were 
no carriages. 

Everybody knew how to ride. A pretty sight it must 
have been to see the ladies and gentlemen cantering along 
the green forest paths. There were few highways, and so 
wild was the country and so dense the forests that lonel}' 



STORIES OF EARLY MARYLAND 



91 



travellers sometimes lost their way and had to spend the 
night in the woods. 

Strangers always found a welcome in the settler's home. 
It was pleasant to get news from the outside world, for you 
must remember that there 
were no newspapers then. 
At night, when the candles 
were lighted and the logs 
were burning in the open 
fireplaces, stories true or 
made up were always sure 
of eager listeners. 

The large plantations 
lay along the rivers which 
emptied into Chesapeake 
Bay or into the Potomac. 
As in Virginia, the ships 
brought almost to the 
planter's door the things 
which he needed and took 
in trade his tobacco and 
corn, while from the inland 
plantations, where the 
ships could not go, tobacco was brought down to the 
river-fronts over "corduroy roads." 

As in Virginia, also, plantation life left no chance for 
towns to grow. For many years St. Maiy's, the capital, 




*7 '^ 

Cape Charles 



Early Settlements in Virginia and 
Maryland. 



92 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

was the only town in Maryland, and for a long time this 
was little more than a village. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Why did Lord Baltimore wish to plant a settlement in the New 

World? 

2. Tell all you can about the friendly feeling between the settlers 

and the Indians. 

3. Give any reasons why you think the boys and girls enjoyed living 

in the Maryland colony. 

4. The settlers had large plantations just as the people in Virginia 

had. Can you tell why? Why did not towns grow in Mary- 
land and in Virginia? 



CHAPTER XIII 
STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 

Besides the Catholics, there were other people in Eng- 
land who were not willing to worship as the law said they 
should. These people loved the Church of England, but 
they wished to make its forms of worship more simple. 
They were called Pu'ri-tans. 

Some of these disliked the forms of worship so much that 
they even wished to separate from the Church of England 
and form a church of their own. These are the people who 
later came to be called Pil'grims because, as we shall see, 
they journeyed about so much for the sake of their religion. 

Before they left England, these people met for Sunday 
service in the home of William Brewster, one of their chief 
men. He lived in the little village of Scroo'by. 

For a year they tried to worship by themselves. But 
the law did not permit secret meetings. So when they were 
found out they were punished and some were thrown into 
prison. 

This was hard, and after a while they made up their 
minds to leave England and seek homes in Holland, where 
they knew tho}- could worship Ciod as they pleased. 

93 



94 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

But as the king wanted his own way he was unwilling 
that they should go; so it was not easy for them to cany 
out their plan. Yet in 1608, a year after the settlement of 
Jamestown, they managed to get away and they sailed to 
Am'ster-dam, moving later to Ley'den (h'd'n). 

They were well treated in Holland and got work as 
weavers, tailors, carpenters, and so on. But they were not 
happy there. They felt like strangers in a strange land. 
Besides, it was harder for them to make a living there than 
in England, where most of them had been farmers. 

Even after they had been in Holland for many years, they 
still loved England and did not get over longing for the 
English ways of doing things. It made them sad to see 
their children growing up as Dutch children and speaking 
Dutch instead of English. 

Finally, they said, "We will go to America, where we 
can worship God and bring up our children in our own 
way." 

But the English king was not willing to let them settle 
in America. Besides, they were poor, and found it hard to 
raise money for the voyage. At last the king promised he 
would not trouble them in America so long as they did noth- 
ing to displease him there. 

So the money needed for the voyage was borrowed, and 
after a long time a company was made ready to leave Hol- 
land. 

They sailed in a little vessel called the Speed'well. But 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 



95 



not all of them could go^ — some were too old and weak, — 
and the parting was a sad one. When good-byes were said, 
we may be sure that many eyes filled with tears. The 




From a painting by Charles IV. Cope, 

Departure of Pilgrim Fathers from Delft Haven, 1620. 



pastor, who stayed in Holland, knelt on the shore and asked 
God to bless those of his flock who were going to the far-off 
land. 

At Ply'mouth, England, the Speedwell was joined by a 
rather larger vessel, the May^fiow-er. Twice the Pilgrims 
started, and twice they had to go back because the Speed- 
well leaked. Finally, they had to leave her behind, and 
crowd as many as possible into the Mayflower. 



96 EARLY AMERTCAX HISTORY 

At last on September 6, 1620, they made the final start. 
There were about one hundred people on board, among 
them twenty boys and eight girls. 

It was a terrible journey. Day after day, heavy storms 
and high winds tossed the boat about as if she were a cork. 
The sails were torn, and at times it seemed as if the little 
vessel would be lost in the great waves. Surely the Pilgrim 
boys and girls must have been homesick for the safe though 
simple life they had left behind. 

In spite of storms, however, the ship sailed safely to 
the end of its voyage; and on Saturday, November 21st, 
she anchored in what is now called the Harbor of Prov'- 
ince-towD. 

THE PILGRIMS IN SEARCH OF A HOME 

What thoughts must have come to these brave men and 
women as they caught the first glimpse of the strange new 
land which was to be their home! How tired and lonely 
they must have felt! Not a house nor a human being in 
sight! Only sand-hills and trees and dreary stretches of 
deep snow! Yet they had faith in God's care and were not 
afraid. 

They had been sixty-four days in crossing the At-lan'tic, 
a trip which some of our great steam-ships to-day make in 
less than a week. 

Before any one landed, the Pilgrim fathers gathered in 
the cabin of the Mayflower, and agreed to stand together 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 



97 



and obey such laws as they might pass later. They elected 
John Car'ver as their governor, and Captain Miles Stan'- 
dish as their military leader. 

Captain Standish was not a Pilgrim, but he liked these 
brave men and enjoyed adventure. He was a small man 
but active and daring. He was also a good soldier, 
and was a great help to the Pilgrims in meet- 
ing the dangers of their new life. 

Without delay a few of the 
men, with Miles Standish as 
leader, went ashore to look for a 
place to settle. At night they 
returned without having found 
one. 

As the next day was Sunday, 
all stayed on board the ship and 
listened to a sermon preached by 
their minister. Elder Brewster. 

On Monday morning the 
whole company landed. The 
water was too shallow to float 
the boat, so the men had to 
wade ashore cariying the women, 
bitter cold that their wet clothing soon stiffened with ice. 

But fires were lighted at once, and while the women were 
1:)usy washing clothes, the men stood on guard with mus- 
kets readv if wild beasts or Indians should attack them. 




Miles Standish in .Armor. 



The weather was so 



98 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



The PilgriiiiH had brought with them a, shallop, or .small 
boat; which the}' expected to use in exploring the coast. 
While it was being made ready, Captain Standish and his 
men started out 1j}' land to look further for a good place to 
settle. 

They went as soldiers and put on all their armor. Just 
imagine how the little company looked ! Not much like our 
soldiers of to-day. They wore steel 
helmets, iron breast'plates, and quilted 
coats of mail. Surely Indian arrows 
could not hurt them! But what a 
heavy load to cany! 

Some of them, Captain Standish for 
one, of course, had swords hanging at 
their sides. All carried muskets, so big 
and heav}' that they had to be rested 
on some support before they could 
be fired off. How clumsy and slow they would seem now! 
The Pilgrims had not gone more than a mile when 
they saw just ahead some Indians running away from them. 
Then the}' came upon a patch of land cleared for corn, and a 
hut. Inside was a large iron kettle which had been used 
for cooking. 

Looking about, they came upon some mounds in which 
wel'e bows and arrows. In one were baskets of corn stored 
away. The Pilgrims took some of the corn for seed, l)ut 
they were very careful to pay the Indians for it later. 




William Bradford's Chair. 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 



99 



While on this trip, William Brad'ford had a queer acci- 
dent. As he was picking his way through the underljrush, 
he was suddenly jerked upward and held dangling by one 




From a fimHting by €. II. Boiighton. 



Pilgrim Exiles. 



leg in mid-air. His foot had l^een caught in a deer trap, and 
of course he was cjuickly set free. Very likely when he was 
safe on his feet again, all joined in a good laugh. 

After a two days' search the exploring party went l:)ack 
to the JVIaj^flower without yet having found a suitable place 
for a settlement. 

Ten days later, still another party went out, this time 
in the shallop; but they did not succeed any better. 

It was now two weeks since the Mayflower had landed. 
The Pilgrims were tired and were longing for a home. 



100 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Besides, the winter was already upon them, and they felt 
that they must get settled. 

On December 16, a company of ten picked men set 
out once more in the shallop. The day was bitter cold. 
The ocean spray, blown by the wind, froze to ice upon the 
men's clothing. Yet they bravely went forward. 

^Vhen it grew dark, they went ashore for the night. 
To protect themselves against the Indians and to keep 
from freezing they built a barricade of logs, sticks, and 
boughs, five or six feet high, and inside kept a huge fire 
burning. 

With their cloaks wrapped about them and their feet 
turned toward the fire, all but the watchful sentinel lay 
down to sleep. The great trees of the forest were their only 
shelter that cold winter night. 

On the second morning, before daybreak all were astir, 
some preparing breakfast and others putting the supplies 
into the boat. Suddenly a strange cry made ever}^ one stop 
to listen. It was the warwhoop of the Indians. 

Then a shower of arrows fell upon the little Pilgrim band. 
For a time the fighting went on briskly. But when Captain 
Standish wounded the leader of the Indians they quickly 
fled and the Pilgrims took to their shallop. 

This was but the beginning of a day full of danger. 
Late in the afternoon a furious storm of snow and rain 
caught them. They were in great peril and found it hard 
to keep afloat. Just before dark, a big wave almost swal- 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 101 

lowed them up. Soon their rudder was swept away^ and 
then an angry gust of wind struck the mast and snapped 
it into three pieces. 

THE FIRST WINTER IN PLYMOUTH 

But they finally landed safe on an island where they 
found shelter. Here they kindled a fire to warm themselves 
and to dry their wet clothing. 

Sunday, as usual, was made a day of rest. But on 
Monday, December 21, they went to the mainland and 
at last chose a place to settle. They were not long in get- 
ting back to tell the company, and the same day the May- 
flower entered the harbor and the Pilgrims made a landing. 
One whole month had passed since they cast anchor near 
Cape Cod. 

They named the place Plymouth. I think you can tell 
why they loved that name. I wonder if you can tell also 
what the Pilgrims would look for in choosing a place in 
which to live. 

A good harbor, pure drinking-water from a running 
stream, and a hill near by on which to build a fort — these 
they must have, and all these they found at Plymouth. 

There were also several acres of cleared land, which had 
been used by the Indians some years before. 

As soon as the settlers had landed, everybody set to woi-k. 
We can almost see the busy men and boys, some eagerly 
chopping down trees, others sawing trunks into logs of 



102 EARLY AMP:RICAN HISTORY 

proper length, and still others dragging the logs to the places 
where they were to be used. 

All this had to be done by hand, for we must remember 
the Pilgrims brought no horses, and in fact no animals at 
all, except a dog or two. 




From a painting by W. F, Hallsalt. 

The Mayflower iii Plymouth Harbor. 

While the men and boys were getting up a big appetite 
over their work, the women and girls were l3usy kindling 
fires, washing clothes, cooking food, and doing the many 
things that need to be done for the famil}^ comfort. How 
good it would be to have a home once more ! 

The first building which they put up was a rude log- 
house twenty feet square. This was to serve for the com- 
mon storehouse and for shelter until they could build sep- 
arate houses to live in. 

The logs were laid upon one another, to form the walls 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW EN (J LAND 103 

of the buildings. Then the cracks wei'e filled with straw 
and mud, and the roof was covered with reeds. The win- 
dows were made of oiled j^aper. 

AA'hen, later, they built their houses, they placed them for 
safety in two rows, one on each side of the street which led 
from the harbor up the hill. At the top stood the fort, where 
they could run for i)rotection if Indians attacked them. 

During that first winter their food was plain, and there 
was none too much of it. Bread made of wheat, r}'e, or 
barley was about all they had. Only once in a while, when 
some one killed a deer or a wild-fowl, did they have any 
meat to eat; for, like the planters of Jamestown, the Pil- 
grims had no chickens or cows. Cold water, too, was all 
they had to drink. The}' must have thought how good the 
milk which they used to have in England and Holland 
would taste. 

But besides having too little food, and that not very 
good, the Pilgrims suffered much from the cold. Until their 
dwellings were finished, some had slept on board the May- 
flower. 

Scant food and lack of warm clothing, \^•ith many other 
hardships, caused much suffering. At one time only Elder 
Brewster, Captain Standish, and five others were well 
enough to take care of the sick. Standish, w^ho was very 
gentle and kind in sickness, made an excellent nurse. He 
also cheerfully helped with the cooking, washing, and other 
household duties. 



104 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

At times there was a death every day, and at the end 
of the first winter one-half of the settlers had gone. 

Yet in spite of all this suffering, when in the spring the 
Mayflower sailed back to England, not one would leave 
Plymouth. They felt that they must do the work which 
they had set out to do, and it was not right to give up. 
How proud we may be that our first Americans were such 
fine, strong people ! 

THE PILGRIMS AND THE INDIANS 

Although they were in constant dread of attack from 
the Indians, it was nearly three months before an Indian 
showed himself at the settlement. Then, one day in March, 
a dusky stranger was seen coming down the street of the 
village. His first words were: "Wel-come, En-glish-men." 
This was Sam'o-set. Where do you suppose he learned 
those English words? 

A week later he returned with a friend named Squan'to. 
Squanto had formerly lived at Plymouth with other Indians, 
who had been swept away by a plague. That was why the 
Pilgrims found the cleared land deserted. 

Squanto was glad to get back to his old home once more. 
He liked the Pilgrims so well that he was willing to live with 
them, and he taught them many things. He showed them 
how to hunt, to catch fish, and to plant corn, and how to 
feed the soil to make it grow. 

About a week after Samoset made his first visit to Plym- 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 



105 



outh, he came again, bringing the chief, Mas-sa-soit', with 
him. Captain Standish with his company of soldiers went out 
to meet the Indian chief and escort him to Governor Carver. 
This was an important meeting. The Pilgrims spread 
upon the floor of the cabin a green mat, and covered it with 
cushions for the chief and the governor to sit upon. 




Plymouth in the Early Days. 

Amid the beating of drums and the l)lowing of trumpets, 
Massasoit was brought into the room where he met the Pil- 
grim governor. The two men agreed to be friends, and to 
keep peace between the white men and the red men. This 
peace lasted for more than fifty years. 

With summer came easier times. There was much less 
sickness and much more food. In the autumn they had 
good crops of corn and barley to store away, and plenty of 
wild ducks, geese, turkeys, and deer, which they brought 
down with their guns. 



lOfi EARLY AIMERICAX HISTORY 

Late ill the autuiuii Massasoit with iiiiiet}' Indians came 
to pay a visit to Plymouth. They brought with them some 
deer, and the Pilgrims supplied other food. A three days' 
feast followed, and that was the beginning of our New Eng- 
land Thanks-giv'ing. 

This feast made the Indians and white men still better 
friends than they had ever been before. 

But not all the Indians were so friendly as Massasoit and 
his tribe. One day a Nar-ra-gan'sett brave ran through the 
village of Plymouth, and threw into the governor's house 
a l3Uiidle of arrows tied up in a snake's skin. 

"What does this mean?" the Pilgrims asked Squanto. 

"It means," said he, "that the Indians wish to make 
w^ar upon you." 

But the Pilgrims made a very good answer. They at 
once stuffed the skin with powder and bullets and sent it 
back to the chief. 

When it came back to him in this way, he was afraid to 
touch it. Pie was not even willing to let it stay in his wig- 
wam. 80 it was sent from place to place until it came back 
again to Plymouth. 

The Pilgrims thought it wise, however, to get ready for 
Indian attacks. They built around Plymouth a palisade of 
posts ten to twelve feet high. These were set deep in the 
ground and pointed at the top. They also l)uilt on "Burial 
Hill" a large, square l)lockhouse, or thick-walled building, 
with holes out of which to fii'e their guns. 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 



107 



The lower part was used as a meeting-house, when^ meet- 
ings of all kinds were held. On Sunday it was a place of 
worship. But when 
they wished to talk 
over some plan for 
the public good, such 
as the building of a 
road or a bridge, they 
met here also on week 
days. These week- 
day meetings were 
very like our town 
meetings to-day. 

But the Pilgrims 
had other worries be- 
sides the Indians. 
They had borrowed a 
great deal of money 
when they came to 
the New World, and 
men and women alike 
had to work very hard to pay it back. Yet 1)}- trading with 
the Indians, mainly for furs, by sending furs, fish, and tim- 
ber to England, and by earning and saving in eveiy way, 
at the end of six years they had freed themselves from debt. 

Such people were bound to succeed. Although poor in 
houses and lands, they had something which was worth 




They built around Plymouth a palis;idc of posts. 



108 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



far more; and that was the desire and the will to do what 
was right. 

But life in the colony was hard, and their numbers grew 
but slowly. At the end of four years there were only one 
hundred and eighty persons and thirty-two houses. 



THE PURITANS COME TO NEW ENGLAND 

From time to time, news of the free life of the Pilgrims 
reached England, where the king, Charles I, was making it 

harder than ever for the Puritans. 
He believed that whatever he did as 
king was right, and that all should 
obey him without any question. 

The Puritans became so unhap- 
py that many of them gave up their 
old homes and sailed for New England 
to make new ones in a free country. 
They were not simple folk like 
the Pilgrims. Many were rich men, 
some l^elonged to families of high 
rank, and some had great learning. 

A small company had come over in 1628 and settled at 
Sa'lem. But in 1630 the great body of Puritans began to 
come over in throngs. Nine hundred of them, led by John 
Win'throp, a rich law^^er and country gentleman, settled 
first at Charles'town, then spread out to Bos'ton and other 
towns near bv. 




John Winthrop. 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 



109 



The first part of this company left England in eleven 
vessels, bringing with them horses, cattle, and many other 
things useful in settling a new country. 

After a voyage of nearly nine weeks they reached New 
England about the middle of June. The time of sailing had 
been carefully planned - - . 

so that they should 
reach their new homes 
early enough to get 
ready for winter. 

But in spite of 
their foresight, all did 
not go as they had 
planned. Winter did 
not find them ready 
and they had many 
hardships to meet. The coarse food did not agree with 
them. Corn-bread, bad drinking-water, and poor shelter 
made many ill. 

Before December two hundred had died, and yet nobody 
thought of going back. " I am not sorry that I have come," 
said the leader, John Winthrop, a man of strong and beau- 
tiful character. 

When the future looked darkest, a fast-day was ap- 
pointed to ask for God's help. But on the very day before 
it, a supply ship came from England. So the fast-day was 
turned into a da}- of thanksgiving. 




Puritans on Horseback. 



no EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

The worst was over. Soon spring brought milder 
weather, then came the earl}^ wild fruits, and soon after- 
ward the new crops. Before another winter they had 
learned how to make themselves more comfortable. 

ROGER W^ILLIAMS AND RHODE ISLAND 

The Puritans valued their religion more than anything 
else in the world. For its sake they had given up their 
homes in England and most of what was pleasant in their 
lives. Since their freedom of worship had cost so much, 
of course they wished to make sure of not losing it. 

They thought that, above all else, they must not let 
any other religions grow up. So they made very strict 
laws. They said: ''Every one must go to the Puritan 
church." "No one may vote or take any part in making 
the laws except members of the church." 

Some of the Puritans did not like this. Among them 
was Roger Williams, a young man of gentle and nol^le, yet 
strong character. He was a minister, first at Salem, then 
at Plymouth, then again at Salem. 

While at Plymouth, he took a deep interest in the 
Indians. Although he was so poor that he had to earn 
his living by farming and fishing, yet he gave much of his 
time to the red men. He studied their language and 
learned to know them well. He was kind to them in 
many wa3'S, and they returned his love with kindness and 
aood-will. 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 



111 



It was when he returned to Salem that he got into 
trouble with the Puritans, for he said many things they 
did not like. ''You 
do not own the land 
you live on," he boldly 
declared. "You got 
your claim to it from 
the King of England. 
But as he never owned 
the land he had no right 
to give it to you." 

''You have no 
right," he went on, 
"to tax people to sup- 
port a church to which 
they do not belong. 
Nor have you the right 
to make people go to 
church." 

His bold talk star- 
tled the Puritans. Of 
course, they did not like it. Such ideas might make them 
no end of trouble if Roger WilUams kept on preaching them. 
So they made him leave the colony. 

Bidding good-by to his wife and children, he set out 
alone with only a compass for a guide. To keep from 
freezing, he carried an axe to chop wood, and flint and 




--«?"■ 



^^^ 



m 



Rogers Williams Fleeing Through the Woods. 



112 EARLY A:MERICAN HISTORY 

steel to kindle fires. His only shelter at night was a hol- 
low tree or perhaps a covering of brush. 

After many days^ he reached Mount Hope, and there 
the Indians sheltered him. He spent most of the winter 
in the wigwam of his good friend, Massasoit. 

In the spring he started out in a frail canoe to a place 
where the Indians said that there was good spring water. 
He found it, and, with five or six friends who had joined 
him, made a settlement, which he called Prov'i-dence. 

Such was the beginning of Rhode Island (rode i'land) 
Colony. There at first ever}' man was welcome and eveiy 
man could worship as he thought best, or not at all if he 
chose. 

THOMAS HOOKER AND THE HARTFORD COLONY 

During the same year (1636) in which Roger Williams 
began the settlement of Rhode Island, Thom'as Hook'er led 
a company of settlers to the Con-nect'i-cut Valle}^ Like 
Roger Williams, he believed that the Puritans were wrong 
in keeping all men except church-members from voting and 
from taking part in making the laws. 

So because of this belief and for some other reasons, 
he and the members of his congregation at Watertown left 
Massachusetts to make new homes for themselves on the 
bank of the Connecticut River, 

Al)out one hundred men, women, and children set out 
in June, driving before them one hundred and sixty cattle. 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND 



113 



The children must have been very tired sometimes, but 
they must have had their frolics too. We may imagine 
them gathering wild flowers and listening to the birds, and 




Thomas Hooker and Party on the Way to Connecticut. 

also eating their meals, as if on a picnic, under leafy branches 
of spreading trees. 

The men carried packs on their backs and guns in their 
hands. There were no roads, nor even trails of Indians or 
wild beasts to follow through this wild region. A compass 



114 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



was their only guide on their journey of more than one 
hundred miles through the woods. 

At last they reached the place where Hartford now 
stands. They were much pleased with its beauty. The 





PiWirttuce 






"^-"^ i 'I. Judith 



Early Settlements in New England. 



rolling hills, the broad ri\'er with its wooded banks, the 
rich green meadows with the wigwams of the Indians, and 
the few log cabins of earlier settlers squatting here and there, 
made a restful sight for the e^-es of the tired travellers. 



THE NEW HAVEN COLONY 

Two years later, another body of Puritans made a set- 
tlement thirty miles west of the Connecticut River on Long 
Island Sound. There in the spring of 1638, under the leafy 
l^ranches of a great oak-tree, John Da\''en-port, their min- 
ister and leader, preached his first sermon. 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW ENGLAND n5 

As in IMas-sa-chu'setts, so here, none but church-mem- 
bers were allowed to vote. There were no written laws, but 
all agreed to live by the Word of God. Such was the begin- 
ning of New Haven Colony. 

Some Thixgs to Think About 

L Who were the Pilgrims? Why (Hd they go to Holhind, and why 
<Hd they Liter come to New Enghmd? 

2. Imagine yourself coming over with them on the Mayflower and 

tell about the stormy voyage. 

3. Can you tell in your own words the story of wliat happened to 

the ten picked men who set out on December 16 to find a 
place for a settlement? 

4. Do you know why so many of the Pilgrim settlers died during the 

first winter at Plymouth? 

5. Give an account of the meeting between Governor Carver ixnd 

Massasoit? In what way did this meeting prove to be a 
good thing for the settlers? 

6. W'hat do you think of Captain IMiles Standish? What do ^ou 

admire in the Pilgrims? 

7. Why did the Puritans come to America? 

S. How did they suffer during the first winter after landing? 

9. Why did they drive Roger Williams out of the colony? Do you 

think this was right? 

10. Where did Roger Williams go then, and what did he do? What 

do you think of him? 

11. Why did Thomas Hooker and his congregation leave Massa- 

chusetts and make new homes on the Connecticut River? 
Imagine yourself with this company on the long journey 
through the woods and tell what happened. 



'^•W' 



CHAPTER XIV 
STORIES OF EARLY NEW YORK 

In learning about the Spaniards and the Enghsh, we 
must not forget the part other countries took in settHng 
America. 

The Dutch, hke other nations of Europe, wanted to 
increase their trade. For this reason, in 1609, two years 
after the settlement of .Tamest o\mi, they sent out Henry 
Hudson in search of an all-water route to the Far East. 

In April of that year, in a little vessel called the Half 
Moon with a crew of about twenty sailors, he set out. First, 
he sailed in a northerly direction, believing that way would 
be shorter. But the sea was so blocked with icebergs and 
the danger was so great, that his men refused to go farther. 

So he changed his course and sailed across the Atlantic. 
He reached the New World near the mouth of the James 
River. 

Coasting along the shore to the north, he entered a broad 
inlet which he thought was a passage through America. 
It proved to be the mouth of a ri\'er, which later was named 
Hudson after him. There, in September, 1609, he cast an- 
chor. 

116 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW YORK 



ii: 



The Indians, who were friendly and curious, came 
aboard. The}' wore loose robes of deerskin and ornaments 
of copper. The pipes they smoked were copper also. They 
took a great fanc}' to the knives and beads which Hud- 
son had, and gave him tobacco leaves in exchange for them. 

A few of Hudson's men 
started off up the river, 
landing on its western 
shore. At once they were 
surrounded by Indians, 
who gave them a welcome 
and made them gifts of 
tobacco and dried currants. 
But another part}' was not 
received in this kindly way, 
for the Indians attacked 
them and killed one man. 

About ten days after first casting anchor, Hudson him- 
self sailed up the river in the Half Moon, still looking for the 
Northwest Passage. He was delighted with the beauty of 
the country, and spoke of the land as "pleasant with grass 
and flowers and goodly trees." 

He went as far as the spot where Albany is now, but 
there he stopped, for things were not as he had hoped. It 
was plain that this river was not a strait after all. There 
being no reason why he should go farther', he turned back 
toward the open sea. 




Henry Hudson. 



118 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

While sailing down the river, Hudson went ashore in 
the canoe of an old Indian chief. On landing he was taken 
to the chief's wigwam. It was of bark, and within had 
been made ready to receive him with honor. Two mats 
were spread for him to sit upon, and food was served in 
red wooden bowls. A part of this was two pigeons and a 
dog, which were cooked as a dainty for the white men! 
Perhaps Hudson did not wholly enjoy his meal, but he 
knew that the Indians meant to show a kindly feeling. 

Although it was not his good fortune to discover the 
Northwest Passage, Hudson had found something else quite 
as good. This was a place where the Dutch could make 
money in trade, for among the gifts which the Indians 
brought were the glossy brown skins of beavers. 

At once a trade in furs was begun. It must have been 
interesting to see the red men bringing in the beautiful 
pelts and making the Dutch understand, by a sign language, 
what things they wanted in exchange. 

THE COMING OF DUTCH SETTLERS 

The Dutch did not make a settlement at once, for we 
should remember that they were not leaving their native 
land because of religious trouble, like the Massachusetts and 
Maryland settlers. They were thrifty traders, who came 
and went between Holland and the New World simply to 
make money. 

Five years passed, after Hudson sailed up the Hudson 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW YORK 



119 



River, before even a fort was built at the south end of 
]\Ian-hat'tan Island (1014). Around this a settlement 
slowly grew up, and the Dutch called it New Ani'ster-dam. 
Not until 1623 did they attempt to plant a colony. 




W\7^ 



Dutch Trading With the Indians. 



The Dutch named the country which they had found 
New Neth'er-land after their home land, just as the English 
settlers had named theirs New England. 

Some of the settlers made their homes on Manhattan 
Island, on which a large part of our present city of New 
York is built, and a few sailed up the Hudson River and 
built a fort where Albany now stands. Others built a fort 
on the Delaware River, and still another gi'oup sailed up 
the Connecticut and built a fort where Hartford was settled 
later. 



120 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



In 1625 two ships bringing cattle, horses, hogs, and sheep 
reached New Amsterdam. More emigrants came also, and 
soon there were two hundred settlers in the colony. 

The next A^ear Peter Min'- 



rt imlM 



u-it, a good and just man, 
was made governor. He man- 
aged very well. The settlers 
were contented, and the In- 
dians, being fairly treated, 
were friendly. 

The land which the settlers 
needed the governor bought 
from the Indians. Although 
he did not pay large sums, he 
gave enough to satisfy the 
Indians. You will be sur- 
prised to know that, for the 
whole island of Manhattan, 
where to-day land is so high 
that towering buildings are carried up many stories into 
the air, Peter Minuit gave about twenty-four dollars' worth 
of beads, colored cloth, and bits of glass ! 

From the Indians the Dutch had nothing to fear at this 
time. By fair dealing Hudson had won their good-will, and 
by the same kind of treatment the fur traders had kept it. 

But there was still another reason why the powerful 
Ir'o-quois, who lived west of the Hudson, wanted to be 




Indian Fur Trader. 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW YORK 121 

frientls with the Dutch. It so happened that in the very 
same year in which Hudson was saihng north on the Hud- 




Champlain killed one or two ol' their nuiiilHT. 

son River, Cham-plain', a French explorer, of whom we shall 
speak again later, was coming south from Canada on the 
lake which now bears his name. 

He travelled with a band of sixty Al-gon'quin warriors, 



122 EARLY A:\IERTrAX HISTORY 

who were enemies of the Iroquois. To keep the Algonquins 
friendly to himself, Champlain joined them in an attack 
upon two hundred Iroquois on the shores of Lake Champlain. 

Xow, the Iroquois had never heard a gun before. So 
when Champlain fired, and killed one or two of the Iro- 
quois chiefs, the rest fled in panic. But the}' never forgot 
this defeat. From that day they hated the French, and 
were always glad to make them trouble and kill them when 
they could. Now you see why they wanted the help of the 
Dutch and their guns. 

But although the Indians made no trouble and Dutch 
vessels came and went, few people settled down to make 
homes here. The money to be made in the fur trade 
brought the restless, roaming traders but not the steady 
home-making farmers, who were l^etter off in their homes 
across the sea. 

THE PATROONS 

To tempt farmers to go to New Netherland, the Dutch 
West India Company worked out a plan. They offered to 
give large tracts of lands in America to any members of the 
compan}- who would take over, in the next four years, fifty 
grown-up settlers. 

The land might extend along the Hudson or some other 
river for sixteen miles on one side or for eight miles on both 
sides. It could also run back as far as the owner might 
wish. The owner of each tract of land was called a pa- 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW YORK 



123 



trooii. He gave to the men living on his estate houses, 
farms, tools, and cattle. 

In return, the men promised to pa}' him a certain rent, 
and to remain on the farm where they were placed. This 
was fair, but there were some bad 
rules, for example, the men could 
not grind their corn except at the 
patroon's mill, nor hunt, nor fish, 
without his permission. 

So, in spite of getting their land 
and house for almost nothing, men 
with families were rather slo\^• 
about coming to New Netherland. 
Other plans, then, had to be tried. 

In 1638 a most coaxing scheme 
was set before the people. Farmers 
with their families were to be 
carried across the Atlantic without 
charge. Each man was to have 

the use of a farm with its house, barn, and tools. Horses, 
cattle, sheep, and hogs were to be provided. And, best of 
all, it was to be made easy for him to become the owner 
of his little estate in five years. 

This plan worked well. Settlers began to come, and 
kept coming in larger and larger numbers. 

Not all the people by any means came from Holland. 
One reason for this was that the laws Jet the people worship 




A Palroon. 



124 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



as they pleased. So men flocked here from many countries, 
and it is said that as many as eighteen languages were 
spoken by the settlers. 

Fifteen years after the first settlement. New Netherland 
had about ten thousand people, sixteen hundred of whom 
lived in New Amsterdam. At this time New Amsterdam 




New Amsterdam 



was confined to the southern part of Manhattan Island, 
south of the present Wall Street. 

Would you like to know how this street, which to-day 
is one of the busiest and richest in the world, got its name? 

As a defence against the Indians, the Dutch built a wall, 
or palisade, across the northern side of the town. The 
street which in time took its place was called Wall Street. 

In the wall was a gate-way opening into a broad high- 
way, and this to-day is the well-known Broadway of New 
York City. What would the people who built this wall 
and this gate think if to-day they could be set down in 
the midst of these rushing, thronging streets! 

In time the Hudson River came to be lined with the 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW YORK 



125 



large estates of the patroons, stretching far back into the 
country. Perhaps your teacher will read }'ou the story of 
Sleep'y Hol'low, which tells of life on one of these Dutch 
estates. 

Here and there along other streams also were houses and 
villages. The people from these places carried their prod- 




in 1673. 



uce and their furs b}' boat to New Amsterdam, and there 
traded for such things as they needed. When the exchange 
did not come out even and there was needed a sort of 
money, wampum and beaver skins were used instead of gold 
and silver. The small purses in which we carry our money 
to-day would not have been of much use in those days! 

Life was now going better in New Netherland, but the 
Dutch settlers were not without their troubles. We have 
seen that Hudson and the Dutch traders were just to the 
Indians. These Indians were the Iroquois, who had always 
been friendly with the Dutch. 

But the Indians around New Amsterdam were Algon- 
quins, and these tribes, as you remember, were the enemies 



126 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



of the Iroquois. For a long time the Dutch had kept the 
friendship of all the tribes. But they were now to have 
serious trouble with the Algonquins. 

In the first place, there were getting to be so many 
Dutch farmers that their roaming cattle worried the In- 
dians. In the second 
place, Kieft, the new 
governor, was not 
friendly with them. 
Matters went from bad 
to worse. 

Finall}', a small band 
of Indians stole some 
pigs, and a company of 
soldiers was sent out from New Amsterdam to punish the 
tribe to which the thieves belonged. The settlers killed 
several Indian braves and burned some of the Indian crops. 
This began a war which lasted four years. It was a 
time of much terror and bloodshed, and when it came to an 
end, sixteen hundred Indians had been killed. The Dutch 
also had lost many men and had spent much money which 
they needed for other things. 




A Dutch Manor. 



PETER STUYVEBANT AND HIS TROUBLES 

The next and last of the Dutch governors was Peter 
Stuy've-sant. He was a very large man, haughty, and 
commanding. He had been a brave soldier and had 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW YORK 



127 



lost a leg in battle; so that now he stumped around on 
a wooden one. 

When he became governor of New Netherland he told 
the people he would rule them "as a father does his chil- 
dren." The people thought this meant that he would 
l^e kind and gentle. But 
instead he treated them as 
if they could not think for 
themselves and had no 
rights of their own. 

At last he fell into 
trouble with the Swedes 
who had settled along the 
Delaware River. They 
had captured the Dutch 
fort there, "because/' they 
said, "it is on our land." 

The blustering old gov- 
ernor could never allow^ that. So he spent a great deal of 
money getting ready a fleet, and sailed up the Delaware 
with a large body of soldiers. He captured the fort and 
forced the Swedes to give up to the Dutch as masters of 
the countiy. 

But this was not altogether a good thing for the Dutch. 
The colony had never had much fighting strength, because 
their ruling men would not vote money for that purpose. 
Now, after fighting the Swedes, they were weaker than ever. 




Peter Stuyvesant. 



128 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



So when a few years later (1664), English war-ships ap- 
peared in the harbor, the Dutch were not strong enough to 
drive the fleet away. 

The commander of the EngUsh vessels sent an officer 
ashore demanding surrender. This was a complete surprise 

to the Dutch, for it was 
an act of war, and at 
that time England and 
Holland were at peace. 
But the English 
coveted New Nether- 
land for many reasons. 
They wanted to get 
control of its trade, and 
of its fine harbor, the 
best on the Atlantic 
Coast. 

Although the Eng- 
lish force was much 
stronger than the 
Dutch, Governor Stuyvesant, brave old soldier that he was, 
begged the people to fight for the town. 

"I would go to my grave," he cried out in a rage, as he 
stamped the floor with his wooden leg, ''rather than give 
up to the English." 

"Read the letter the English commander has sent you 
and find out just what he wants," said some one. 




Early Settlements in New York and 
New Jersey. 



STORIES OF EARLY NEW YORK 129 

This only made him more angi'}'; and he tore it into bits 
and threw them upon the floor. 

But he had to give up. The Dutch flag was pulled 
down, and the English flag waved in its place. 

New Netherland was now called New York, and was an 
English colony. Under the rule of the English it prospered 
and went on growing year after year. For a long time, 
however, more of the people were Dutch than English, and 
to this day, many old families are proud of their Dutch 
names. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Why did the Dutch send out Henry Hudson? What did he chs- 

cover? 

2. In what way did the Dutch win the good-will of the Indians? 

3. W' hat mistake did Champlain make with the Iroquois, and how 

did the French suffer later for this mistake? 

4. Tell all you can about the patroons. 

5. Why were men with families rather slow about coming from 

Holland to New Netherland? 

G. W'hat kind of man was Go\ernor Stuyvesant? What do you ad- 
mire in him? 

7. W'hy was the name of the colony changed from New Netherland 
to New York? 



CHAPTER XV 
STORIES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA 

We have seen that the Pilgrims and Puritans went to 
New England, and the Catholics to Mar3^1and, because they 
were punished at home for their rehgion. There were still 
other people living in England who were having a hard 
time because of the way they worshipped. 

In those days, you remember, people who made the 
laws in England believed that everybody in the countiy 
should go to the same kind of church. Men and women 
going to any other were punished by being fined, or thrown 
into prison, or whipped; and sometimes such persons were 
even burned at the stake. 

One body of English j^eople who insisted on their own 
way of worship called themselves "Friends." By others 
they were nicknamed Qua'kers. 

Some of their customs were new and strange. For in- 
stance, they would not go to war, nor pay taxes to support 
war, because they believed it was wrong to fight. And 
because they believed all men were equal before the law, 
they would not doff their hats, to any man, not even the king. 

130 



STORIES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA 



131 



Most of them also refused to wear fine clothing or adorn 
their houses because they believed in simple living. 

One of these Quakers, William Penn, was a rich man 
and the son of a powerful admiral. He did not go so far 
in his belief as some, 
for he wore handsome 
clothing and had a fine 
home. 

But he saw that the 
only way for his Quaker 
friends to have peace 
was to go to live in the 
New World, as others 
who suffered for their 
religion had done. 

To carr}^ out his 
plan, he used his own 
large fortune. It happened that King Charles II owed 
Penn $80,000. Now, for a king who liked to spend money 
as well as Charles II did, this was a big debt to pay. 

But Penn saw a way for the king to get rid of the debt, 
and yet not pay out a penny. 

"Will you give me land instead of money?" he asked. 

"Willing!}'," said the king. 

You see the land had cost him nothing. So he set off 
for Penn a large tract lying west of the Delaware Ri\'er, 
and called it Pennsylvania, which means "Penn's woods." 




fiv ' 

William Penn at the Age of 22 (1G66). 



132 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Penn was so modest that he did not wish the country 
named for himself. So the king said, "We will name it 
for }'om- father." 

The next year^ a colony of about three thousand settled 
on the banks of the Delaware. In October of the \Tar 
after that, Penn himself left England to join his colony. 
Bidding good-by to his wife and children, he sailed for 
America in the ship Welcome with one hundred passengers. 
Most of these were Quakers, who had been Penn's neigh- 
bors in England. 

After a voyage of two months they landed at New'- 
cas-tle, Delaware, where they were greeted with shouts of 
welcome. This was not his own colony, but some of those 
who came the year before had settled here, among the 
Swedes and Dutch. 

Penn sailed on up the Delaware River until he came to 
the mouth of the Schuyrkill (skool-kill) River. 

Here he found a city laid out by those who had come 
before him. He named it Phil-a-del'phi-a, which means 
"City of Brotherly Love." This name showed the feeling 
which Penn had for the settlers and wished them to have 
for one another. 

The plan of the city was simple. Most of the land was 
level, and the streets crossed one another at right angles. 
They were given such names as Chestnut Street, Oak 
Street, Elm Street, from the trees of the forest which 
were cut down to make room for them. 



STORIES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA 



133 



Settlei'S came in such large numbers that houses could 
not be built fast enough. So for a time some of them had 
to live hi caves dug in the river-banks. 

The first houses were built of logs, and were very simple. 
They had only two rooms, and no floor except the bare 
ground. But in less than 
three years, many houses 
of boards had been put 
up, and some of the 
bright-red brick of which 
Philadelphia to-day has 
so much. The city grew 
rapidly, and so did the 
whole colony. 

This was partly be- 
cause the Indians were 
friendly. Penn had made friends with them at the start. 
One day he held a meeting with them under the spreading 
branches of a large elm-tree, and together they smoked 
the pipe of peace. 

''The friendship between you and me," said Penn, "is 
not like a chain, for the chain may rust; neither is it like a 
tree, for the falling tree may break. It is as if we were 
parts of one man's body. We are all one flesh and blood." 

Of course, these words pleased the Indians, for they 
had feelings very much like those of white men. They 
replied to Penn in words as kind as his own. Handing him 




Cottage of William Penn, Fairmount Park, 
Philadelphia. 



134 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



a wampum belt of peace they said: "We will live in love 
and peace with William Penn as long as the sun and moon 
shall last." 

Penn paid the Indians for the land, although he had 
already paid the king a large sum. For he believed that 




William Penn's Treaty with the Indians. 

the Indians had rights, and he wished to deal fairly with 
them. 

He gave them knives, kettles, axes, beads, and some 
other things which made their lives easier and happier. 
These were more useful to the Indians than money. Penn 
was always kind and honest in his dealings with the men of 
the forest; and they, in their turn, were true to him. 

In the course of years, settlers from many countries 



STORIES OF EARLY PENNSYLVANIA 135 

came in large numbers to Pennsylvania. Englislimen, 
Swedes, Welsh, Dutch, and Germans all found their way 
here, and the colony grew so fast that there was plenty of 
work for all. 

People liked to live where the laws were wise, and where 
they could worship as they pleased. This they could do in 
Pennsylvania, and the colony continued to prosper. 

Some Things to Think About 

1 . Tell all you can about the strange and new customs of the Quakers. 

2. Who was William Penn? Why did he wish to make a settlement in 

America? 

3. What name did he give his first settlement, and why? 

4. How did he treat the Indians, and how did they treat him? What 

do you admire in William Penn? 

5. Why did his colony grow rapidly? 



CHAPTER XVI 
STORIES OF EARLY GEORGIA 

In the days of which we are speaking, there were other 
troubles which needed righting besides those of rehgion. 
The laws about debt caused great and hopeless misery. 
When a man could not pay a debt, even if it were for only 
a small sum, he was thrown into prison, and if he had no 
friends to help him out, he usually stayed there the rest of 
his life. Many died early, of starvation, filthy quarters, and 
because they lost hope. 

Among the rich men of high birth who lived at this 
time was James O'gle-thorpe. He was a brave soldier and 
a noble and tender-hearted man. He resolved to do some- 
thing to help the poor men who suffered from the hard and 
stupid laws. 

His plan was to pay the debts of the most worthy, and 
then set them fi-ee, if they would agree to go to America. 
"There," said this kind man, "they can begin life over 
again," 

Besides a wish to help poor men, he had something else 
in mind. He wished to plant a colony far to the south, that 

136 



STORIES OF EARLY GEORGIA 



i; 



would be strong enough to ward off attacks by the Spaniards 
in Florida. 

Early in 1733; he sailed with his men to the southern 
coast of North America. Choosing a high bluff near the 
bank of the Savannah River, he made 
a settlement and called it Savannah. 
He named his colony Georgia, in 
honor of King George 11. 

At first Oglethorpe took up his 
quarters in a tent, sheltered by four 
beautiful pine-trees, and there he 
lived for more than a year. 

Like Penn, he treated the red 
men fairly, and won their friendship. 

As a token of good feeling one day 
they handed him a buffalo skin, on the inside of which was a 
picture of the head and feathers of an eagle. " Here is a little 
present," they said. "The feathers of the eagle are soft, and 
this means love. The skin of the buffalo is warm, and this 
means protection. Therefore, love and protect our people." 

Such was the beginning of a lasting friendship between 
Oglethorpe and the Indians. They were friendly to him 
because he was just and kind to them. They lived in peace 
with him, just as the Indians farther north lived in peace 
with William Penn. 

To bring more money into the colony, he began to trade 
with the Indians for fur. 




James Oglethorpe. 



138 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



■Jify, 




He noticed many mulberry-trees, 
and that made him think of 
raising silk-worms. 



Then he noticed that there were many mul'ber-iy -trees 

growing in Georgia, and that made him think of raising silk- 
worms; for;, as you know, mul- 
berr}^ leaves are the food which 
silk-worms like best. After a little 
the people began to weave silk; 
and then the}- sent a dress pattern 
to the queen, who had it made 
up into a gown and wore it. 

Oglethorpe honestly tried to 
do everything possible for the 

good of the settlers; but they did not like his way of 

governing. He gave them no share in making the laws. 
There were also other things they did not like. For 

instance, he would not 

have any rum made or 

sold, because he thought 

it would bring harm to 

the people. Neither 

would he have negro 

slaves in the colony, 

because he wished only 

hard-working white 

men to live there. 
The settlers, however, 

said they needed the rum, and that the climate was so hot and 

bred such fevers that they must have negroes to do the work. 







Early Settlements in Georgia. 



STORIES OF EARLY GEORGIA 139 

At last they were allowed to have their own way. But 
the men who had been failures in England were not the 
kind to start right as colonists in the New World. Georgia, 
therefore, did not prosper at first. It has long since, how- 
ever, become one of the great States of our Union. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Why did James Oglethorpe wish to phint a colony in America? 

2. How did he make friends with the Indians? 

3. What made him think of raising silk-worms? 

4. What do you admire in James Oglethorpe? 



CHAPTER XVII 



LIFE IN EARLY COLONIAL DAYS 



NEW ENGLAND 

Now that we have seen something of the way in which 
the colonies started, let us go back on a make-believe jour- 
ney and see how the people lived in those early da3^s. 

First; we will visit New England. Here we shall find 

many villages. In some the 
houses are built along both 
sides of a road; in others, they 
are grouped around a central 
green. But w^e are pretty 
sure to find the meeting-house, 
the block-house, the minister's 
house, and the inn not far 
apart. 
When Indians are close by the village, there are three or 
four block-houses, with palisades around them. For, in 
times of danger, the families living outside the village come 
here to spend the night. If during the day some one gives 
warning that the Indians are on the war-path, all the men, 
women, and children who live in the outlying cabins come 

140 




A Block-House. 



LIFE IN EARLY COLONIAL DAYS 141 

flocking to the nearest block-house. Let us hope that this 
will not happen during our visit. 

Here and there we see some newer houses of brick and 
stone, and if we should come at a later time we should 
find rich merchants and ship-owners living in fine houses 
with costly furniture. But most of the dwellings we see 
now are rough wooden cabins, containing only two rooms, 
a living-room and a kitchen, with the chimney between. 

The people seem glad to see us and ask us in. 

What huge fireplaces! Here is one big enough to take 
in a great log six feet long and three feet thick. But the 
people tell us that even when the flames roar up the chim- 
ney, the ink freezes on their pens a few feet away from 
the fire! 

What would happen if the fire should go out? There 
are no matches, of course. They tell us that at night they 
cover the glowing coals over with ashes, so that the fire 
will keep. 

Does it ever go out? Yes, sometimes, and then one of 
the children runs to a neighbor's and brings home a pan of 
red coals or a burning stick to relight it; or sparks are 
struck from flint into a tinder-box or into dry leaves to 
start a little blaze. 

It is nearly noon when we arrive, and in front of the 
fire the meat or fowl for dinner is being roasted. It hangs 
by a hempen string from a hook above. A child keeps the 
string turning, and sometimes the housewife twists it and 



142 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



lets it untwist again. Perhaps you are looking for a crane, 
or rod on which to hang kettles, such as your grandmother 
may have told you about. This has not yet come into use. 








One of the children runs to a neighbor's and brings home 
a burning stick. 



When we sit down to the table, we must make no re- 
marks about the simple furnishings. 

The table is a long board, about three feet wide, with a 
bench on either side for seats. There are no plates, but the 
food is served on wooden blocks, ten or twelve inches 
square, and three or four inches thick, scooped out in the 
centre something like shallow bowls. They are called 
trenchers. 



LIFE IN EARLY COLONIAL DAYS 143 

No forks either! We will eat with our fingers, as the 
others do. 

And what a queer drinking-cup ! It might be iron or 
leather, but this seems to be horn. Pass it on to the one 
next you, for there is only one for the whole family. How 
good the food tastes! 

After dinner, perhaps the family will let us go about 
and see them at work. 

They are ver}^ busy people. The farmers have to work 
very hard, for their soil is poor and rocky. 

They also make most of their furniture, cooking utensils, 
and farming tools in the house or in little workshops close 
by. They have only the simplest tools and everything is 
rudely made. 

There are grist-mills to grind the corn and saw-mills 
to make the lumber, both run by the small streams which 
rush down the hillside. 

If the village is near the coast, we shall find some fisher- 
men who make their living by catching cod or whale. We 
shall also see some ship-building going on, for it is easy to 
get good timber in the large forests. 

THE BOYS AND GIRLS AT HOME AND AT SCHOOL 

The mother, too, is veiy busy, for she does many things 
which nowadays are done outside the home. Besides cook- 
ing and keeping the house in order, she makes clothes for 
all the family, and even makes the cloth in the first place! 



144 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



The wool and the flax are raised on the httle farm, and 
spun and woven by her into cloth. Perhaps she will turn 
the spinning-wheel for you to show how the wool or flax is 



drawn out into long threads. 



How it whirs and hums! 




The Spiiming-Wheel. 

Of course, you will want to see what the children are 
doing. The girls help their mothers in many ways. They 
learn to cook, to mould candles, to make soap, to milk the 
cows, and to make butter and cheese. They work in the 
gardens, and pluck the geese to get feathers for pillows and 
feather-beds. They are also learning to spin, weave, dye, 
and make clothing. Perhaps you know more about books, 
but I doubt if you could keep house as well ! 



LIFE IN EARLY COLONIAL DAYS 145 

The boys are as busy helping their fathers as the girls 
in helping their mothers. They chop and saw wood, plant 
and weed the fields, feed the pigs, water the horses, clean 
the stables, and do many kinds of work of which most of 
you boys know nothing. 

Of course, the children 
go to school, too. As you 

remember, one reason why M^^ ^'^^ _^ 

the Pilgrims left Holland ^.^.^S^^^SSfgl^^ 




Their school-house is a rude log hut. 



was that they might bring ^^£r^':^^: 

up their children in their 

own way. From the first,' 

they have taken great pains 

to educate them. So have the Puritans, and at a veiy 

early day public schools were started — so that every town 

has its school. 

It is kind of the children to ask us to visit their school- 
house. It does not look at all like your big building. It 
is a rude log hut, and the seats are long slabs from sawed 
logs, with the flat side up, raised on sticks. 

There are no black-boards nor maps on the wall. The 
children have no slates and few pencils. Some of them are 
doing their sums on birch bark, for paper is very scarce. 
The boys and girls, at home and at school, have very few 
books. A Bible, a catechism, a hymn-book, and a primer 
are about all. Yet the children learn to read and write. 

Perhaps the best time of the day is when school and 



146 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



work are over, and all sit down for the evening. How cheer- 
ful then the big fireplace looks with its high-backed seat on 




The big fireplace with its high-backed seat on either side. 

either side! Here the children sit, listening to the talk of 
the grown-ups, or perhaps cracking nuts while a row of 
roasting apples sputters before the fire. 

When bedtime comes, and the children leave their 



LIFE IN EARLY COLONIAL DAYS 147 

warm, cosey corner, they do not walk over a soft carpet, 
nor even over a wooden floor. Perhaps there is a rug 
or the skin of an animal over the bare earth. While they 
sleep, the snow often sifts in through cracks in the wall, 
making tin}- drifts before morning. 

THE PURITAN SABBATH 

I think perhaps you will want to see how these children 
of long ago spent their Saturdays and Sundays. Saturday 
is a very busy day. Everything must be made ready for 
Sunday, because on that day no cooking is allowed and veiy 
little work of any kind. 

The Puritans are very strict about this. The minute 
the sun goes down their Sabbath begins. All work and 
play must be put aside, for the Sabbath must be a day 
of rest. 

When nine o'clock in the morning comes, a drum, bell, 
or horn is sounded. Then each family starts for the meet- 
ing-house, the father and mother walking in front of their 
children. At church we shall see nearly every one who is 
not sick, for a man who stays away a month without a good 
reason is punished. 

If there is danger from Indians, a sentinel stands on 
guard at the door of the meeting-house, and each man sits 
with his gun beside him. 

The sermon is sometimes two or three hours long. The 
time is kept by an hour-glass which the sexton turns at the 



148 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

end of eveiy hour. We are a little tired when the service is 
over. 

But we must not think that the New England people 
spend all their time in work and worship. Life for the 
Puritan children is l)y no means without play. There is 
plenty of hunting and fishing, and in winter there are livel}^ 
snowball fights and skating. In summer the younger chil- 
dren roll hoopS; spin tops, and play at leap-frog and see-saw. 
Indoors there are merrymakings with games like hide-and- 
go-seek and blind-man's-buff. 

If the older people invite us to any of their gatherings, 
it will be to a house-raising or corn-husking party, or per- 
haps to a spinning-bee or a quilting-bee or an apple-paring. 
For they had their good times helping each other in this 
way. 

If we should happen to be there at Thanksgiving time, 
which came after the corn and pumpkins and apples were 
stored away for the winter, we should find the table loaded 
with good things to eat, such as turkey, chicken, pudding, 
pies, nuts, raisins, and other things that make us hungry 
even to name. 

One reason why strangers are made so welcome is that 
the settlers see very little of the people outside of their own 
villages and towns. It is not easy to go from place to 
place, and it takes a great deal of time. There are no 
roads across the countiy, — nothing but Indian trails, so 
that people have to go on horseback. But between the 



LIFE IN EARLY COLONIAL DAYS 149 

settlements that are near the water, they go in "dugouts" 
or small boats. 

How would you like to change places with these boys 
and girls of the New England of long ago? 

THE SOUTH 

If now we take a trip to the South, we shall find life in 
Virginia and Maryland different in many ways from that 
in New England. 

Here the people are not living on small farms, rather 
near together, but on big plantations, spreading over many 
acres. 

The first houses of the early settlers were cabins, much 
like those of New England, but built loose and open, for it 
is warmer here. 

But at the time of our visit, there are many rich planters 
living in two-story houses of wood or brick. Very pleasant 
they look with their vine-clad porches in front, and wide 
hallways inside. They are called man'sions. 

Near the j^lanter's house are little cabins, squatting in 
the midst of gardens and poultry-yards. These are for 
slaves, and about them the little black children romp and 
play at all hours of the day. There, also, are the stable, the 
barn, the smoke-house, and other needed buildings, so that 
each plantation is a little village by itself, with its own 
blacksmith, wheelwright, shoemaker, doctor, overseer, and 
so on. 



150 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



If we are invited into the "big house," we shall not find 
caipeted floors, unless our visit is made a hundred years or 
so after the first settlement. But we may find rugs, and 
handsome furniture, — tables, side-boardS; four-posted bed- 
steads, and other pieces bought from English merchants. 




The rich planters live in houses called mansions. 



The family uses pewter dishes every day, but there arc some 
shining silver pieces on the side-board. 

T\w cooking is done over a fireplace, just as in New 
England, and cakes of corn-meal or, "pones," are baked in 
the hot ashes. 

We see the spinning-wheel and flax-wlun^l in many 
homes, and also moulds in which candles an^ made. I^'or 



LIFE L\ EARLY COLONLVL DAYS 



L51 



candle-light is the only evening light; except that from the 
blazing wood in the fireplace. 

Much of the clothings however, and many of the uten- 
sils for house and farm are brought from England, in ex- 
change for the planter's tobacco. 







Old Log Cabin for the Slaves. 



It may be our good luck to see a ship from England 
come in while we are here. At these times everybody is 
excited and happy. Foi- it brings not onh' needed things 
for which the people have long been waiting, but also news 
from friends in the mother-country, and sometimes, })est of 
all, the friends themselves. What glad meetings they must 
be and how everybody must talk and laugh at once! 



152 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



We cannot go to school with these children, for, on these 
big plantations, they live too far apart to go to a common 
school as in New England. Many of the poorer children 
are growing up without learning to read and write. But 
perhaps the planter's children will show us how they study. 




Tables, Chairs, Four-posted Bedstead. 

They are taught at home by tutors or clergj^men. When 
they grow older, some of the boys will go to Europe to 
study further. 

There are many men in the South who read a great 
deal ; for the planter can live without working with his own 
hands, and has much time for books. Some of them have 
fine libraries. 



LIFE IN EARLY COLONIAL DAYS LIS 

Their sports are different from those in New England. 
They are veiy fond of riding to the hunt. The wild woods 
are full of game, and no Southern youth is thought manly 
until he is a good rider and hunter. How exciting it is 
when a fox runs past; followed a little later l)y a pack of 
hounds in full chase and a group of horsemen riding fast and 
jumping the ditches and fences in their path! 

On the day of a horse-race people come flocking from far 
away. Besides the horse-race, there are hurdle-races and 
other lively sports, with greased poles and greased pigs, to 
entertain the crowd. 

These people do not keep Thanksgiving Day, but they 
make a great deal of Christmas. Then all is gay and bright 
in the planter's house. There is much feasting, which is 
followed in the evening by dancing and music. What a 
pretty sight it is! 

NEW YORK 

Before coming back from our journey let us go to early 
New York. Here all is quite different from either New 
England or the South, because in those colonies most of 
the people were English, while here they are mostly Dutch. 

Some live in towns where trade is carried on. Yet many 
live on farms larger than those of New England, but not so 
large as the Southern plantations. 

In the towns we find a few cabins of early settlers, but 
most of the Dutch houses have stoops in front, where neigh- 



154 



EARLY AMERTCAX HISTORY 



bors like to visit and gossip. The houses stand with their 
gabled ends toward the street, and at the back is a garden 
with vegetables and flower-beds. 

It is the fashion in New Amsterdam to sit out-doors as 
nnu'h as the weather allows, on the stoop or in arbors or 

summer-houses in the gardens. 
The men smoke their pipes and 
tell stories while the women knit 
or sew. 

If we visit a patroon's estate, 
we shall see as we draw near big 
windmills, like those in Holland, 
slowly turning their big white 
canvas sails in the wind. Near 
the grand house we shall find 
large gardens, bright with splen- 
did tulips, lilies, and other beau- 
tiful blossoms; for the Dutch are very fond of flowers. 

As we enter, the huge fireplace reminds us of those we 
saw in New England. And we see again the spinning-wheel 
and hand-loom. But the rest of the rich furniture is large 
a.nd heav3^ 

The chief piece is the great chest of drawers and shelves 
set on casters. We are allowed to look in, and we see the 
finest pieces of family silver, choice dishes, and other costly 
treasures. There are other chests too, some for linen and 
clothing. There is a small one of very handsome wood with 




Early Dutch Windmill. 



LIFE IN EARLY COLONIAL DAYS 



155 



knobs of glass or silver or even gold. It is for trinkets and 
small pieces of table-ware. 

But even in this handsome house we see no carpet. 
The floors are kept clean by constant scrui:)bing, and in 
some rooms they are sprinkled with 
sand made into straight or wavy lines 
by the broom. 

The table is loaded with good 
things to eat; for all Dutch women 
are noted for their cooking. There 
are crullers and cookies, tarts and 
jellieS; cream dishes, preserved fruits, 
and many other things which make 
us hungry to think about. To drink, 
there is buttermilk or beer. 

In the bedroom we see high beds 
showing finely carved legs and posts. Here are little steps 
up which you must mount if you are to sleep in this fine 
bed. Then down, down you will sink into the soft 
feathers, forgetting all about the outside world. 

Although the men of this colony seem slow and easy- 
going, nearly all are workers. They are honest and saving, 
and many have become rich. Perhaps the ship-owners 
and traders make the most mone}', for just as the South 
sends ship-loads of tobacco to Europe, so New York 
sends cargoes of fur in exchange for things made across 
the sea. 




The Greati Chest of Drawers 
Set on Casters. 



156 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

The little Dutch children go to school, for from the first 
the settlers have taken much interest in having their chil- 
dren taught. 

There are more holidays here than in New England. 
The people take life more easily than the Puritans. They 
are fond of dress, of sports, and merrymakings. In the 
countiy they go to spinning-bees, house-raisings, corn-husk- 
ings, and dancing-parties; in the towns they enjoy horse- 
racing, bowling, and picnics. 

They make much of Christmas, New Year's, and Easter. 
They gave us our Santa Claus for Christmas; they started 
the custom of making calls upon New Year's Day; they 
were the first to color eggs for Easter. 

Perhaps after all you would have liked best to live in 
"little old New York." 

Some Things to Think About 

1 . Tell what you Ccan about the huge fireplaces in the early New Eng- 

land houses and about the way the fire was kept going. 

2. How did the boys and girls help their fathers and mothers? 

3. Tell all you can about their schools. 

4. Imagine yourself going to church in New England, and tell about 

what you see there. 

5. What kind of amusements did the older people and the young 

people have? 

6. Imagine yourself in Maryland or Virginia in the early days and 

tell all you can about the planter's house and its surround- 
ings. 

7. Why were the people so glad to see a ship come in from Eng- 

land? 



LIFE IN EARLY COLONIAL DAYS 157 

8. What were the sports in the South? 

9. Tell all you can about the grand house of the patroon. How was 

it furnished? 

10. What kind of cooking did the Dutch like? 

IL What do you know about Dutch sports and holidays? 



CHAPTER XVIII 
FATHER MARQUETTE 

Thus far we have not said much about the French 
people in the New World. But we must not think that 
there were none here during all the years when the English 
were planting settlements along the Atlantic coast. 

You remember how Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence 
in search of the Northwest Passage to China, and how 
Champlain fought in the battle with Iroquois Indians on 
the shore of Lake Champlain. 

This same Champlain had planted a French colony at 
Quebec. Indeed, he did so much there for his country that 
he has been called "the father of New France." 

At first the French came in small numbers. They were 
mostly traders in furs, although some made a li^'ing by cod- 
fishing and some by farming. They were very friendly 
with the Indians. They joined them in their sports and 
in their ways of living. They sometimes even married In- 
dian squaws. 

But besides the trader in fur and the soldier with his 
musket, there were in the French settlements many Cath- 
olic priests. Some were called Jes'u-its. These men did 

158 



FATHER MARQUETTE 



159 



not come to the New World to make money, but to make 
Christians of the Indians. 

They went from village to village through the wild 
forest, in summer paddling the streams and lakes in their 
birch-bark canoes, and in winter 
skimming lightly and rapidly 
along on snow-shoes. 

They passed through many 
dangers. Often they suffered 
from hunger and cold. Some of 
them were cruelly tortured, and 
some were burnt at the stake. 
But those who were spared kept 
faithfully on with the good 
work. 

One of these brave priests was 
Father Mar-c{uette'. He came to 
Canada nearly sixty 3'ears after 
Champlain made the settlement 
at Quebec. From there he went 

far to the west, and on the north side of the Strait of 
Mack'i-nac built a little bark chapel, where he worked 
faithfully to make Christians of the red men. 

One day an Indian hunter told him of a great river lying 
still farther to the west. Father Marquette kept thinking 
of it and of the work he might do in the Indian villages 
along its banks. After a while he made up his mind to go 



HUH 


t ^ 




1' iH^^I 




K 




^^m - ^^ ^^1 



statue of.Janu-s Marciuettu. 



160 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



in search of this river. Along with him went a fur-trader, 
Lou'is Jo'li-et. 

In May, 1673, with five trained woodsmen, they started 
on their long journey. Smoothly they glided over the blue 







The priest, in his long black robe, in one canoe, and Joliet in] 
the other. 

waters of Lake Michigan in two bark canoes, well supplied 
with smoked meat and Indian-corn. The priest, in his long 
back robe, sat in one canoe, and Joliet, wearing a hunting- 
suit of buckskin and a fur cap, in the other. 

When the shadows of late afternoon fell, they went 



FATHER MARQUETTE IGl 

ashore. Gathering wood, they kindled a fire, took the food 
out of the canoes, and turned them up so that they could 
creep under them for a shelter at night. 

On either side of the fire they drove two forked sticks 
firmly into the ground, and across them laid a green log. 
Here they hung their kettle and boiled some corn, and 
over the blazing logs, on long-handled forks made of 
green sticks, they broiled the fish they had caught during 
the day. 

Their active day in the open air must have made this 
simple meal taste like a royal feast. 

After supper they smoked their pipes and talked, and 
then turned in for the night. Wrapping themselves in their 
blankets, with their heads sheltered by the overturned 
canoes and their feet stretched out toward the fire, they 
went to sleep. 

THE FRENCH EXPLORERS AND THE INDIANS 

Travelling in this way, they passed on to the head of 
Green Bay and, entering Fox River, soon came upon an 
Indian town. Here they asked for guides, who showed 
them the way through the forest to the Wis-con'sin River. 

Once more launching their canoes, they paddled down- 
stream. A week later they entered the mighty Mississippi, 
of which the Indians far back in Mackinac had told them. 
No white man had ever been there before. 

Wishing to explore the river still further, they made 



1G2 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

their wa}' slowly downstream, and at length reached the 
mouth of the Arkansas. 

One day, as they were about to land, they suddenly 
found themselves in great danger. A band of young braves, 
with tomahawks and war-clubs raised over their heads, 
rushed toward the Frenchmen at the river-bank as if they 
were going to murder them. 

But the good Father Marquette calmly held high the pipe 
of peace, and the older Indians, calling back the youths, 
became friendly and received the white men in a kindly 
way. 

On their way farther down the river, the explorers 
visited other Indian villages. But as the natives were not 
friendly to them, they decided to return. They feared that 
if they should go further, they might be killed by Indians 
or captured by Spaniards. 

They had already learned from the Indians that the 
Mississippi flowed into the Gulf of Mexico and not into the 
Pacific Ocean. The stream, therefore, was not the passage 
to the Pacific which they were seeking. 

Turning northward, they travelled back toward Green 
Bay, which they reached safely after having been away four 
months. They had made a journey of more than twenty- 
five hundred miles. In so doing, they had given France 
a claim to a vast territory in the New World, on the ground 
that Frenchmen had discovered it. 



FATHER MARQUETTE 1C3 



Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell all you can al)out the work of the (^atholic priests among the 

Indians. How did many of these priests suffer? 

2. Why did Father Marquette make his long journey down the 

Mississippi River? 

3. Imagine yourself with him and tell about how the little company 

of Frenchmen spent the night on the shore. 

4. How did this long journey help the French people? What do you 

admire in Father Marquette? 



CHAPTER XIX 

ROBERT CAVELIER, SIEUR DE LA SALLE 

The story of Marquette's voyage made a stir in France. 
Already the French had control of the St. Lawrence River. 
If now they could get control of the Mississippi also, they 
might build up a trade which would pour vast sums into 
the nation's treasury and make France very rich. 

To do this, a young Frenchman, La Salle, gave the best 
years of his life. He was only twenty-three years old when 
he came to the New World. He too had hopes of finding 
the Northwest Passage, but meanwhile there were two great 
plans which he wished to carry out. 

One was to build a chain of trading posts along the Great 
Lakes and down the Mississippi River; and the other was 
to plant a French colony and fort at the mouth of the 
Mississippi. 

After long and careful planning, he built a small vessel, 
the Griffin, on the Ni-ag'a-ra River, to cany him and his 
crew through the lakes on their way to the Mississippi. 

They started in August, 1679. The voyage was a stormy 
one, but they reached Green Bay in September. 

Here La Salle found a large quantity of furs, which 

164 



ROBERT CAVELIER, SIEUR DE LA SALLE 165 

some of his men had gone ahead to collect for him. He 
loaded them on the Griffin and sent her back to Niagara, 
for he expected by selling the furs to get money to pay 
for his journey down the Mississippi. 

Not waiting for the return of the Griffin, La Salle, with 




Frovi a painting by Carlton T, Chapmati. 

Launching the Griffin. 

fourteen men and four canoes, went ahead on his journey. 
They paddled down the west side of Lake Michigan as far as 
the St. Joseph River. Landing here they built a fort, and 
then went on to the Il-li-nois' countiy, where they built 
another fort. 

All this time La Salle was expecting news of the Griffin. 
As day after day passed he grew anxious, and finally gave 



166 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



up hope. Indeed, he never heard from the httle vessel again. 
But he must have a ship, so he planned to go back to Canada. 
Leaving a few men to guard the forts which he had 
built, and taking four Frenchmen, an Indian hunter, a sup- 
ply of powder and shot and blankets, and skins for mocca- 
sins, he started (March 
1, 1680) for Canada. 

It was a terrible jour- 
ney. Sometimes the 
streams were frozen, and 
they had to drag the 
canoes on sledges. At 
other times the ice was 
not thick enough to bear 
their weight, but too 
thick for them to break 
a passage for the ca- 
noes, which then had to 
be carried on the men's 
shoulders through the 
woods. 

When they reached 
the St. Jo'seph River, they struck out across country. The 
woods were thick and full of danger. Thorny underbrush tore 
their clothing into shreds and cut their faces and hands. 
For three days they endured great suffering. Then a rapid 
joimiey of two days more brought them to a marshy country. 




For sixty-five days this painful journey lasted. 



,S» ^''■"•%-muTv'X.v^ 




168 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



One night they took off their drenched clothing, and, 
wrapping themselves in blankets, slept on a dry hill. But 




Here, in the name of the French king, he planted a column and a cross. 

in the morning they had to build a fire to thaw their 
frozen clothes before they could put them on. 

For sixt3'-five days this painful journey lasted. 

Yet the end of La Salle's journey did not bring the end 



ROBERT CAVELIER, SIEUR DE LA SALLE 169 

of his troubles. When he got back to the Ilhnois country 
with fresh suppHes, he could find neither the forts nor the 
men he had left there. Perhaps the men had been capt- 
ured and the forts destroyed by the Indians. 

LA SALLE REACHES THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI 

So again he had to make his way back to Canada to 
get a vessel there, but he could not get one. Then, in spite 
of all discouragements, he started out for the third time, 
saying, "We will go even in canoes." 

Two years and a half had passed since his first start 
in the Griffin. At last (February, 1682) he was ready. 
Then, with twenty-three Frenchmen and thirty-one Indians, 
he began his journey down the Mississippi. His little fleet 
of bark canoes made a picture far different from the one he 
had seen in his mind when building the (li-iffin. But it was 
the best he could do. 

After some weeks, he reached the Gulf of Mexico and 
landed. Here, in the name of the French king, he planted 
a column and a cross, and claimed all the land drained by 
the Mississippi River and its branches. He called it Lou- 
is'i-an'a in honor of Louis XIV, King of France. 

La Salle had carried out the first part of his plan — that 
of building forts and trading posts along his route. Now 
it remained to found a colony at the mouth of the Mis- 
sissippi. 

To get help for this, he had to go to France. His plan 



170 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



met with favor there, and with men and suppHes he sailed 
back to America in the summer of 1684. 

13ut new trouble awaited him. He missed the mouth 
of the Mississippi, and landed some four hundred miles to 

the west of it on the 
coast of what is now 
Texas. 

Here he built a fort. 
Then trials came thick 
and fast. The Indians 
attacked him. For 
lack of food, many of 
his men became sick, 
and a large number 
died. He was the only 
one who did not lose 
heart. 

Day after day he 
kept looking for help 
from France, but it did 
not come. For two 
3'ears he fought like a 
hero with dangers and hardships. Then it was plain that 
something must be done at once to save the colony. So 
the iron-willed La Salle resolved to go to Canada for sup- 
plies. 

In January, 1687, with seventeen men and five horses, 




One morning one of them shot him dead. 



ROBERT CAVELIER, SIEUR DE LA SALLE 171 

he started on the long, perilous journey north from Texas 
to Canada through the trackless forest. He alone had 
faith in ever reaching the end of the journey. 

The men were afraid. To them the forest meant dis- 
ease, famine, Indians, wild beasts, and heat or cold too 
intense to bear. They cared nothing for their heroic 
leader. In fact, they had already suffered so much in fol- 
lowing him that they had come to hate him. 

Since there was no other way of escape, they planned 
to murder him; and one morning, as he came forward to 
speak, one of them shot him dead. This was about two 
months after they had left the fort. 

Such was the end of one of the bravest and boldest of 
the French explorers. Although he was not able to carr}^ 
out his plans, he did much for his country. He gave France 
a better right to claim a large part of the American continent. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. What two great plans did La Salle wish to cany out? Did he 

succeed? 

2. Think of yourself as having been with him in his dangerous journey 

through the woods in the spring of 1681, and tell what hap- 
pened. 

3. Tell all you can about the trials of La Salle and his men at the fort 

in Texas. 

4. Why did his men kill him? What do you think of him? 



CHAPTER XX 

STORIES OF THE NEW ENGLANDERS AND THE 
INDIANS 

While the French were exploring Canada and the West 
and were Hving mostly as traders among the Indians, the 
English were planting settlements along the Atlantic Coast 
from New England to Georgia. 

Most of them paid the Indians for their land; but the 
red men did not know at first that the English would cut 
down the forests, and so take away their hunting-grounds. 

When they came to understand this, they seized the 
first excuse for trying to drive them off again. So there 
was much fighting between the English and the red men. 
A large part of this took place in New England. 

Soon after Thomas Hooker and his company came to 
the Connecticut Valley, they had a war with the Pequot 
Indians, a fierce and powerful tribe then living in the 
southern part of what is now Connecticut. 

These Indians killed two traders from Massachusetts, 

and stole their goods. When the people in Massachusetts 

tried to punish them, the Indians began to torture and 

172 



STORIES OF THE NEW EXGLANDERS 



173 



murder all the men, women, and children they could lay 
their hands on. They killed over thirty, and the settlers 
in the valley of the Connecticut saw that they must either 
conquer the Pequots or leave the country. 




They sailed down the Connecticut River. 

So they prepared at once to send a body of men against 
the Pequot fort. They sailed down the Connecticut River 
and along the coast eastward, landing near the mouth of 
the Thames River. There they pitched their tents for the 
night. 



174 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Before daybreak the next morning, they advanced 
slowly and silently upon the Indians, who were still asleep 
in their stronghold. This was a village of wigwams, sur- 




This was a village of wigwams, surrounded by a palisade. 

rounded by a palisade, ten or twelve feet high, having only 
two doors, each just wide enough for one man to pass 
through. 

The first alarm was the barking of a dog; next came 
the cry of a waking Indian. Quickly the white soldiers 
hurried to the openings to keep the Indians from escaping. 
Some rushed into the fort and others threw fire-brands 
among the wigwams from the outside and set them on fire. 

The red men fought bravely, but in vain. Many were 
burned alive, and others were killed as they rushed to the 
gates or jumped over the palisade. Only fourteen survived, 
of whom seven were captured. The others escaped. 



STORIES OF THE NEW EXG LANDERS 



175 



KING PHILIP S WAR 

It was some forty years before New England had any 
further serious trouble from the Indians. Then a ver}^ able 
chief, called by the English 
"King Phil'ip/" made a last 
mighty effort to free the land 
from the whites. 

King Philip was the son and 
successor of IMassasoit, who, 
as you remember, made peace 
with Governor Carver in Plym- 
outh. Philip himself opened 
the war in June, 1675, on the 
little village of Swan'sea, a 
group of forty houses not far 
from his home. While the peo- 
ple were gathered in the meet- 
ing-house to pray for peace, a 
band of his Indians stole into 

the town and set fire to two of the houses. Then they 
killed men, women, and children, and drove off the cattle. 

During the following spring, the Plymouth colony was 
set upon by Indians, and many houses were burned. 

This thoroughly aroused the colonists. Ever}^ settler in 
New England, able to carry a musket, took up arms, and 
the Indians soon had the worst of it. Their fields were laid 




King Philip. 



176 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

waste, and, without food, many of them lost courage and 
had to give up. 

To bring the war to an end, a great fighter, Captain 
Church, was put at the head of a large force. From that 
time on Philip was hunted from one hiding-place to an- 
other, until at last he made his way to Mount Hope, in 
the Rhode Island swamp, the home of his childhood. 

Here Captain Church defeated the Indians and took 
Philip's wife and son captive. Philip himself came near 
losing his life. "My heart breaks," he cried in bitterness. 
"Now I am ready to die!" He escaped, however, and 
found shelter in an Indian camp. 

But Captain Church followed close upon him and with 
his men surrounded the camp. While trying to get away, 
Philip was shot dead. 

This put an end to King Philip's War, which was a 
costly one to the English settlements. Twelve or thirteen 
of the towns of Massachusetts and Plymouth had been de- 
stroyed, and nearly one thousand men slain. 

But in central and southern New England the power of 
the Indians was forever broken. They did no further harm, 
except, as we shall see in the next chapter, in their raids 
with the French on the northern frontier. 



STORIES OF THE NEW ENGLANDERS 177 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Do you understand why there was much fighting between the 

EngHsh and the Indians? 

2. Tell all you can about the attack upon the Pequot fort. 

3. What did King Philip try to do in his war against the New England 

settlers? 

4. How did the war end? W'hat do you think of King Philip? 



CHAPTER XXI 
STORIES OF THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH 

Now let us go back to a time seven years after William 
Penn settled Pennsylvania and La Salle reached the mouth 
of the Mississippi. These two events happened about the 
same time. We shall find England and France at war. 
This war is the first of four long and bitter wars between 
these two countries. 

In America the English and French colonies took up the 
fight. Let us see what kind of war the settlers of the new 
countiy carried on. 

The French would begin the fighting. Their method 
was to stir up the Indians on the border. Then the red 
men would steal through the silent forests, and, waiting for 
nightfall, would attack the villages and cabins where the 
English settlers lay asleep. The sleepers awoke to be killed 
outright, or tortured to death, or carried off as prisoners. 

One of the attacks was made upon Schenectady (1690). 
Picture to yourself the sleeping settlement. A palisade sur- 
rounds the village, but, as the settlers are not expecting an 
attack, no sentinels guard the gates, which in fact are not 

178 



STORIES OF THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH 170 

even closed. As make-believe sentinels, two snow-men stand 
in front of one of them. 

It is a little before midnight, and a party of French 
and Indians are stealing cjuietly upon the fort, stopping 




Indians are stealing quietly upon the fort, stopping now and then to listen. 

now and then to listen. They enter one of the open gates 
and silently file about the village until they entirely sur- 
round it. Then suddenly the warwhoop rings out, and the 
Indians begin their deadly work. 

In a few minutes the village is on fire. Most of the 
people are slaughtered or made captive. The rest, with 
but little clothing, flee through a raging snow-storm to 



ISO 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



Albany; seventeen miles away. Twenty-five die on the 
way from cold and hardship. What a night of terror! 

Other attacks followed. Seven years later (1697), the 




They forced the mother and nurse to march with them toward Canada. 



Indians attacked Haverhill, Massachusetts. Forty of the 
settlers were killed or captured, and nine were burned to 
death. 

When the Indians began the attack, Thomas Dus'tin 
was riding on horseback from Haverhill to his farm outside 



STORIES OF THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH 181 

the town. On seeing the Indians, he hurried back to his 
home to save his wife and seven children. 

"Children," he cried, "run for your hves to the block- 
house." They obeyed, and he kept himself between them 
and the red men until they were safe within it. 

His wife and little l^aby, however, could not escape. 
They and the nurse were taken prisoners and put in charge 
of an Indian family of twelve — two braves, three scjuaws, 
and seven children. The Indians killed the baby, and then 
forced the mother and nurse to march with them toward 
Canada. 

After twelve hours the party came to a halt not far 
from Concord, New Hampshire. Besides the two women, 
an English boy was also a captive. He had been with the 
Indians long enough to know their language, and heard 
them say that at the end of their journey they would torture 
the white women. 

IVIrs. Dustin made up her mind to attempt an escape. 
So while the Indians slept, the two women and the boy 
quietly arose, and with tomahawks killed all but two of 
the Indians— an old squaw and a boy. Then with the 
scalps of their ten victims, they paddled their way in a 
bark canoe and got back to an English settlement on the 
Merrimac. 



182 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 




THE INDIANS ATTACK DEERFIELD 

Some years later (1704) at Deer'field, Massachusetts, 
the Indians made another attack. In the attacking party 
were two hundred and fifty French and Indians. 

It was a very cold night. The village was surrounded 

by a palisade, but the 
snow-drifts were so 
high that it was easy 
to climb over and get 
inside of the strong- 
hold. 

A few of the In- 
dians, entering in this 
way, opened the gates 
and let in the rest. They captured the town, set fire to 
the dwellings, and killed forty of the settlers. One hun- 
dred and twelve were made prisoners and marched through 
the snow to Canada. 

John Wil'liams, the Deerfield minister, and his wife and 
family were among the captives. Mrs. Williams was not 
strong, and by the second day she was unable to keep up 
with the march. One blow from a tomahawk ended her sor- 
row. About twenty prisoners were murdered along the way. 
Mr. Williams arrived at Montreal, where he lived as a 
captive two and one-half years. He was then returned to 
Massachusetts through an exchange of prisoners. 



Old House at Deerfield, Mass. 



STORIES OF THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH 183 



But the Indians would not give up his daughter, Eunice, 
who was then a child of seven years. She was taken to an 




G VLl' OF JlliXICO 



The English Colonies and the French Claims in 17.54. 

Indian village, and when she grew up she married an Indian 
chief. 

You will want to know the rest of her story. In later 
years, she visited the place of her childhood. But she 
would not stay long. She was uneasy to get back to her 
free camp life and to her Indian children. 

Many murderous raids like these took place in the first 



184 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

three wars between the Enghsh and the French settlers in 
America. There was still another and greater, called the 
Last French War. You need not be told a great many 
things about the fighting itself. But you should know 
what the war was about, a few events which show what 
kind of war it was, and also how it ended. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell all you can about the attack which the French and the 

Indians made upon Schenectady. 

2. What did Mr. Dustin do when the Indians began the attack upon 

Haverhill? What did Mrs. Dustin do after she was taken 
prisoner? 

3. Can you tell what happened to Mr. Williams and his wife? 

4. In how many wars did the English and the French settlers take 

part? 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH IN NORTH 
AMERICA 

We have seen how the French planted trading posts 
and built forts along the Great Lakes and the Mississippi 
River. They had other forts along the St. Lawrence. So 
they had control of the two largest river valleys in America. 
The French also claimed the Ohio River valley, but so did 
the English. 

In order to make good their claims, the English formed 
the Ohio Company and began to send out settlers to occupy 
the land. 

Then the French hastened to put up forts in the same 
region. One of their forts was quite near the place where 
the city of Erie now stands. Two others were farther 
south along the Alleghany River. 

When the people of Virginia found out what the French 
were doing, they did not like it. So the governor sent a 
messenger to ask the French what it meant, and to warn 
them that they were building forts on English land. The 
person chosen to carry this message was George Wash'- 
ing-ton. 

185 



180 



EARLY AMP:ilirA\ HISTORY 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Let us find out who this young man was, and why the 
governor trusted him with an errand so important. 

He was born on 
Fel)ruary 22, 1732, 
the son of a rich 
planterwhoselands 
lay along the Poto- 
mac River. At an 
early age he was 
sent to a school 
near by, where he 
learned a little 
reading, writing, 
and ciphering. 
That does not seem 
a great deal to us, 
l3ut it was a good 
beginning. 

George had 
great fun at all 
kinds of boyish 
sports, such as running, leaping, and wrestling; and he 
easily led in them, for he was strong and rugged, and al- 
ways played fair. 

He led the boys not only in sports, but also in other 




The two were together much of the time. They often 
spent the afternoons fox hunting. 



ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 187 

ways, and he was often called upon to settle their dis- 
putes. Nobody ever doubted his word, for he was always 
truthful. 

He was a veiy careful boy, and neat about his work. 




When he needed some one to survey land, he chose Washington 
for the task. 

"Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well," was 
his motto, and he stuck to it through life. 

When he grew up he was still fond of out-door sports. 
He loved the woods and the fields, and a good gallop on 
horseback. There was much need at that time of survey- 
ing, — that is, measuring off land, one man's from another's. 
Washington learned to do this and his careful habits as a 
boy helped him very much as a surveyor. 



188 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

When he was sixteen a friendship was begun which had 
much to do with his later Hfe. 

At that time his home was at Mt. Vernon, and near 
by hved an EngHsh gentleman, Lord Fair'fax. This tall, 
slender, white-haired gentleman of sixty took a great liking 
to the strong, manly youth of sixteen, and the two were 
together much of the time. They often spent the mornings 
in surveying and the afternoons in fox hunting. 

The more Lord Fairfax learned to know young 
George Washington, the more he trusted him. And 
when he needed some one to survey land far out be- 
3^ond the Blue Ridge Mountains, he chose Washington for 
the task. 

Washington was at this time barely sixteen. Yet with 
a single companion a few years older, he started out, both 
3^ouths on horseback. They carried guns, because they 
would need them not only to protect themselves from wild 
beasts and Indians, but also to kill game; for while they 
were away from home, they would have to depend mainly 
upon hunting for their supply of food. 

Washington's account of the journey gives many pictures 
in his own words. Now we see him and his companions 
riding along through the unbroken forest with no path, 
except, perhaps, the trail of Indians or wild animals. Then 
we see them spending the night in a woodman's cabin, 
with nothing but a mat of straw for a bed and a single 
blanket for a covering. Again they are making a large 



ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 189 

fire. Each is his own cook. Their spits are forked sticks 
and their plates are large chips. 

There were many dangers and hardships, but in meeting 
them Washington was becoming more manly and learning 
many things which as a leader of men he had to know. 
He was coming close to the Indians, traders, and woods- 
men, and learning to understand them. 

He was also becoming better known to the men of his 
own colony, who were going to need him. One of those who 
were watching him was the governor of Virginia. Now can 
you guess why, some years after he returned from this trip, 
young George Washington was the one picked out to bear 
the message to the commander of the French forts? 

It was in the autumn of 1753 that Washington started 
on that dangerous journey to the Ohio Valley. With only 
seven companions he set out through the thick forests. 

They had to push through the deep snows in the midst 
of heavy storms. Many times there was not even the trail 
of Indians nor the path of wild beasts to guide them. 

It was December when they reached the French fort 
about fifteen miles south of Lake Erie. 

Washington gave the governor's message, and received an 
answer from the French commander, who promised noth- 
ing. Then, with a single faithful woodsman, he started 
back home. 

On the way they passed through many dangers. Once 
an Indian shot at Washington, and came near killing him. 



190 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

At another time, he had a narrow escape from drowning, 
for the Alleghany River, which they had to cross, was 
broken up into great blocks of floating ice. 

There was but one thing to do. Taking turns with 
the only hatchet they had, they spent a day in making a 
raft. Then they launched it. 

The swirling blocks of ice lunged at their craft, and 
many times it seemed as if it must go under. Once Wash- 
ington's foot slipped. It was a desperate moment, but he 
caught himself up and at last they touched the shore. 

The night was bitter cold, but they dared not build a 
fire for fear of the Indians. When morning came, the 
hands and feet of Washington's companion were frozen. 
How they must have suffered! 

Finally, after an absence of more than two and a half 
months, they reached home. 

But the answer which Washington brought from the 
French made it plain that they did not intend to leave the 
Ohio countrj\ 

THE LAST FRENCH WAR BEGINS 

At once the Ohio Company sent out a party of men to 
build a log fort, at the place (now Pittsburg) where two 
great rivers unite to form the Ohio. Shortly after, Wash- 
ington himself was sent with a body of soldiers to defend 
it. But before it could be built, French troops came down 
from Canada in canoes and drove away the workmen. 



ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 191 



The French cahiily finished the fort for tlieniselves and 
called it Fort Duquesne (du-can'). Then a large body of 
French soldiers advanced to meet Washington, defeated 
him in a l)attle at Great Meadows, and forced him to march 
l:>ack to Virginia. 

This was in the spring of 1754. The war to decide who 
owned the Ohio Valley had begun, and soon grew into a 
war which would decide 
who owned the greater 
part of North America. 

As you may remem- 
l)er, the English had made 
settlements all along the 
Atlantic coast, while most 
of the French had settled 
in Canada. There were 
fifteen times as many Eng- 
lish settlers as there were 
French; but the English 
lived and worked in separate groups, while the French 
were all together. 

Some sort of union was veiy much needed among the 
English colonies. 




The French in the Ohio Valley. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

One of their leading men tried to luring it about. His 
name was Ben'ja-min Frank'lin, and he was truly a great 
man. 



192 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



He had such an important part in what happened to 
the colonies then and later that we should know something 
about his hfe. It is full of interest. 

His father was a candle-maker, and when Benjamin 
was only ten he went to work in his father's shop. Here he 

did such things as cutting wicks 
for the candles, filling the moulds 
with tallow, selling soap in the 
shop, and acting as errand-boy. 

Although he was faithful in all 
his work, he did not enjoy doing 
these things. But he was fond of 
being outdoors, and near the wa- 
ter. He could swim and row and 
sail boats better than most of the 
boys. 

He had good habits. He was 
never idle, because he put a high value upon time. He 
never spent money foolishly, because he knew the easiest 
way to make money was to save what he had. 

He was very fond of books and reading. On that 
account his father put him into a printer's shop in Boston 
with his older brother. But Benjamin thought his brother 
was not quite fair with him, and he set out to seek his 
fortune alone. He was then seventeen. 

He went to Philadelphia where most of his life was 
spent. An amusing stoiy is told of how he looked to his 




Benjamin Franklin. 



ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN NORTH AIMERICA 19;{ 

future wife when he first arrived in that city. Look it up 
and tell it to your teacher. 

Years after this he set up in the printing business for 
himself. But in order to do it; he had to borrow money. 
He worked early and late to pay off the debt, and some- 
times even made his own ink and cast type with his own 
hands. 

But no matter where he was, or how hard he had to 
work, he always found time to read and improve his mind. 

Here are some of the rules he made: "Be orderly about 
your work. Do not waste anything. Never be idle. When 
you decide to do anything, do it with a brave heart." 

Some of these rules appeared in an almanac which he 
published and called "Poor Richard's Almanack." People 
liked it verj^ much, and it became well known eveiywhere. 

Franklin also liked to make things that were useful in 
the home. Perhaps you have seen a Franklin stove. This 
invention was so much better than the open fireplace that 
it soon came to be widely used. 

But the most wonderful of all the things he did was to 
prove that e-lec-tric'i-ty was the same thing as the lightning 
we see in the clouds. 

You would hardly expect a man of these tastes to be 
the one to work out a plan to unite the English colonies. 
Yet it was he who, seeing clearly that the English colonies 
would be much stronger if they would work together, pro- 
posed in 1754 a "Plan of Union," 



194 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

This was a step toward the union which the colonies 
made later in the struggle against England which we call 
the American Revolution. But at this time, they were not 
far-seeing enough to get together and ward off the Indians. 
So the war was fought out by the different groups in differ- 
ent parts of the country. 

England's help 

In 1755 England sent out help to her colonies. General 
Brad'dock with a large number of English troops came 
over, and made plans to march against Fort Duquesne. 
He invited Washington to be one of his aids. 

Braddock's task was a hard one. He had to cut a road 
through the forest much of the way, and at the same time 
fight the Indians. He was used to making war in the 
open fields of Europe, but of this woodland warfare he knew 
nothing. 

Washington warned him to be on the lookout against 
the Indian way of fighting. But he thought he knew more 
about the business of war than young Washington, and 
he paid no attention to this warning. 

After many toilsome days of marching, at last, when 
within eight miles of the French fort, they had a battle. 
First they suddenly saw a man bounding along the pathway 
just ahead. He was dressed like an Indian. Catching 
sight of the British army, he turned and waved his hat. 
At once a body of French soldiers and Indian warriors 



ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 195 

dashed out from the underbrush and a hideous warwhoop 
rent the air. 

Then, as suddenly as they had come, the French and the 
Indians vanished. They had run back and, hiding behind 
trees and bushes where Braddock and his men could not see 




Braddock's Toilsome March Through the Wilderness. 

them, they shot down the English by hundreds. Brad- 
dock's men could only fire blindly into the dense forests. 
They could not see a single man. 

After two hours of fighting, the English threw away 
their guns and fled for their lives. 

Braddock fought bravely. So did Washington. Two 
horses were shot from under him and four bullets tore 
through his clothing, but he was not hurt. Seven hundred 



100 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

men were either killed or wounded, among them Brad dock 
himself; who received a mortal womid. 

The defeat was a terrible one. If Washington had not 
managed to get the army back it would have been even 
worse. Such was the result of the first real battle of the 
last French War. 

THE ACADIANS 

During the same year in which General Braddock was 
defeated, war was going on far to the north, and a veiy 
sad thing happened. This was the removal of the A-ca'- 
di-ans from their home land. 

The Acadians were simple French peasants living in 
what we now call NoVa Sco'tia. They called it A-ca'di-a, 
and they or their forefathers had lived there since early 
in the seventeenth century. 

They did not like the English, and, although their land 
had come under English control, the}' themselves remained 
French at heart and loyal to France. They would not 
promise to be faithful to England. Nor would they promise 
to join the English armies against the French or the Indians. 

It was quite plain to the English that if the French 
should attack Acadia, the people there would rise as one 
man to help them against the English. For this reason, 
they decided to move the Acadians away and scatter them 
among the English colonies. 

In doing this, they tried to keep the people of each 



ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 197 

A'illage together on the vessels that carried them away. 
But in the grief of partings and in the confusion of getting 




The Acadians were torn from their homes and carried into 
strange lands. 

off, husbands were separated from their wives and mothers 
from their children. And they never saw one another again. 
By this cruel act, six thousand Acadians were torn from 
their homes and carried into strange lands. 



198 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Before the Acadians sailed away, their houses and barns 
were burned, so as to be of no use to any who might try to 
remain behind. Some da}- you will read the pitiful stories 
of the Acadians in a beautiful poem, Evangeline, by Long- 
fellow. 

THE ENGLISH BEGIN TO WIN 

For the next three years, the French got the best of the 
fighting. But in 1758 and 1759, the English began to win. 

They droye the French from Fort Duquesne and named 
it Fort Pitt, after William Pitt, who was then at the head 
of affairs in England. At the north they also droye the 
French from their strongholds on Lake George and Lake 
Champlain.^ 

They next set out to concjuer the French in the St. Law- 
rence Valley. To do this, they had to capture Quebec, the 
most important French stronghold on the St. Lawrence 
River. 

GENERAL WOLFE 

For this great task William Pitt picked out James Wolfe, 
who became the hero of Quebec. He is indeed one of the 
heroes of the world. 

1 One of the colonial leaders who took an important part in defeating the French 
was Sir William Johnson. He was an Englishman who had settled on the Mohawk 
River, where he lived in a large stone mansion. He knew well the language of the 
Indians and their customs. He lived their life, joining in their sports and sitting at 
their council fires. He always treated them fairly so tliat they trusted him and came 
to love him. In fact, the Mohawks adopted him into their nation and made him a 
war chief. It is said that no other man at that time had so much power over the 
Iroquois Indians. 



ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 199 




James Wolfe. 



At this time, he was thirty-two years old. To look at 

him you would never imagine that he was a soldier. He 
was tall and thin, with narrow shoul- 
ders and frail body. His hair was red 
and his face plain, but his beautiful 
eyes were full of thought and showed 
a fearless spirit. 

His health was never robust. As a 
child, he had often been 
sick, and at this time 
he was suffering from 
a disease which must 
soon have ended his 

life. But he had an iron will and a strong 

wish to serve his country in some way. 
Although he had a hot temper, he had 

a tender and frank nature, which helped him 

to make friends and to keep them. His 

soldiers loved him and were willing to follow 

him through any dangers even to death. 
It was in June, 1759, that Wolfe with an 

army of nearly nine thousand men cast an- 
chor in the St. Lawrence River not far 

from Quebec. The town stood on a rocky An English soiciier of 

^ ^ Wolfe's Army. 

cliff two hundred feet above the river. 

Wolfe saw from the first that it would be no easy task to 

capture this place, so hard to reach. 




200 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 



And there were many hardships to endure. His soldiers 
suffered from the intense heat and drenching rains. Many 
were sick, and Wolfe himself became ill with a fever. But 
he would not give up. Although in great pain most of 
the time, he went from tent to tent 
among his men, tiying to give them 
courage. 

He said to his doctor: "I know 
you cannot cure me. But pray make 
me up so that I can be without pain 
for a few days, and able to do my 
duty. That is all I want." You see 
he feared that his weak body would 
not keep him alive long enough for 
him to finish his task. 
At last, after much waiting and searching, he discovered 
a pathway up the steep cliff leading to the fort. Then he 
knew that the best way to defeat Montcalm, the French 
commander, was to get the English army up to the plain 
by this pathway. 




Montcalm. 



THE CAPTURE OF QUEBEC 

So Wolfe took a number of men in boats up the river 
to a point nine miles above the place where he intended 
to make the attack. Two hours after midnight, on Sep- 
tember 13th, the signal was given for the advance. It was 
a clear, starlit night, but as there was no moon the English 



ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 201 

were hidden in darkness while they moved slowly down the 
river. 

Let us imagine ourselves standing by Wolfe's side as 
the boats float quietly down the stream. He is speaking 
in low tones. 

We listen closer. 
He is repeating the 
words of a poem that 
he loves. One line 
seems to make him 
sad: "The paths of 
gloiy lead but to the 
grave." He has 
come to the end. He 
pauses and says 
gently: "Gentlemen, 
I would rather have 
written those lines 
than take Quebec." 

Alter landing, j^^^ch man had to pull himself up by clinging to 

. __ ... , . the roots and bushes. 

the iLnglish struggled 

up the great cliff. Each man, with musket over his shoul- 
der, had to pull himself up by clinging to the roots and 
bushes. But by six o'clock in the morning Wolfe had his 
army drawn up in line ready for battle. It had been an 
anxious night for the sick young English general. 

But it was no less so for Montcalm. Though not sick 




202 



EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 




Quebec and Surroundings. 



in body, he was sick at heart. He was fighting for a 
losing cause; and he knew it. He had not men enough to 
defend the city, he was short of suppHes, and the people of 
the city did not stand by him. He said that he had not 
taken off his clothes to rest since the twenty-third of June. 

About six o'clock that morn- 
ing he heard musket shots and 
the firing of cannon. Mounting 
his black horse, he rode at once 
toward Quebec. When he saw in 
the distance the British soldiers 
drawn up in red ranks, he said to 
an officer who was riding by his 
side: "This is serious business." 
At ten o'clock the French advanced upon the English. 
The struggle was a bitter one, but the French lost the battle. 
Wolfe was struck by three bullets, the last of which 
brought him to the earth. Then four of his men bore him 
tenderly and lovingly to the rear. 
A moment later some one said: 

"They run! See how they run!" The dying man 
opened his eyes as if waking from a deep sleep, and said: 
"Who runs?" 

" The enemy, sir. Egad, they give way everywhere." 
"Now," said Wolfe, as he breathed his last, "God be 
praised; I will die in peace." 

Montcalm also received a mortal wound. But, sup- 



ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 203 

ported by his soldiers, he kept his saddle as he rode through 
the town. When told that he could not live many hours, he 
said: "So much the better. Thank God, I shall not live to 
see Quebec surrendered." 

Five days later Quebec passed out of the hands of the 
French into the hands of the English. Not even then, how- 
ever, did France give wsij, and for a while it seemed almost 
as if she might get back at least her own lands. But it 
was too late. 

By the treaty of peace, in 1763, she gave up to Spain 
the land between the Mississippi River and the Rocky 
Mountains, and to England she gave up Canada and the 
land east of the Mississippi. 

North America was now in the hands of England and 
Spain, and England had control of all the land east of 
the Mississippi except Florida. 

Later George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and 
other American leaders and heroes joined in a struggle 
against England herself. As a result of that war, which 
you will learn about in your later reading, the American 
colonies became free from England and a nation by them- 
selves. They became States, and afterward joined one 
another to form the United States. 

OUR COUNTRY 

This is your country and mine. Let us try to be loyal 
to it and give it our best service. 



204 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY 

Although we cannot do great things such as Washington 
did, we can, Hke him, be honest and true, and hve up to the 
motto that "whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing 
well." By living and working in this way, whether at home 
or at school, we can make ourselves useful citizens. We can 
be loyal to our flag and to our countiy. Let us never for- 
get that a great and good nation is made only of great and 
good men and women. 

Some Things to Think About 

L Do you know the cause of the last French War? the result? 

2. What kind of boy was George Washington? 

3. Imagine yourself with him when he was surveying land beyond 

the Blue Ridge Mountains. What happened? 

4. In imagination go with him on his long journey to the French fort, 

and tell the story of the journey. 

5. What do you admire in Washington? 

6. What kind of boy was Benjamin Franklin? Do you think you 

would like such a boy if he were in your school? 

7. What important thing did Franklin try to bring about? Did he 

succeed? 

8. What kind of man was Braddock? What do you think was the 

cause of his defeat? 

9. Imagine yourself as having been a near friend of James Wolfe and 

tell why you like him. 

10. What were some of his trials? 

IL Imagine yourself with him on the evening when his boat floated 
down-stream toward Quebec, and tell as clearly as you can all 
that happened. 

12. In what ways can you be like Washington? 



INDEX 



ACADIANS, 196-198 
Albany, 117, 119 
Algonquin Indians, 18 
Amsterdam, New, 119, 124 
Asia, European trade with, 1-3, 5 
Aztecs, 37-41 

Balboa, 30, 31 
Baltimore, Lord, 87 
Boston, 108 

Braddock, General, 194-196 
Bradford, William, 99 
Brewster, William, 93 

Cabot, John, 15, 16 
Cartier, 55-57 
Carver, John, 97, 105 
Cathohc missionaries, 158, 159 
CathoHcs, 87 
Champlain, 121, 122 
Church, Captain, 176 
Columbus, Christopher, 4-14 
Connecticut, 112-115 
Cortez, 36-41 
Crusades, 1 

Da Gama, Vasco, 4 
Dale, Sir Thomas, 80, 81 
Davenport, John, 114 
Deerfield, attack on, 182 
Delaware, Lord, 79, 80 
De Leon, 48-50 
De Soto, 44, 50-54 
Diego, 6, 7 

Drake, Sir Francis, 58-62 
Duquesne, Fort, 191, 198 
Dustin, Hannah, 181 
Dutch, the, 116-129 



Elizabeth, Queen, 64-66 

Fairfax, Lord, 188 
Ferdinand, 6, 12 
Franklin, Benjamin, 191-193 
French War, Last, 184-204 

Georgia, 136-139 
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 65 
Grenville, Sir Richard, 65 
Griffin, 164-166 

Half Moon, 116 
Hartford, 114 

Haverhill, attack on, ISO, 181 
Hooker, Thomas, 112-114 
Hudson, Henry, lir>-118 
Hudson River, 116 

Inca, the, 42-46 
Indented servants, 84 
Indians, 18-29, 73-76, 81-83, 

125, 126, 172-184 
Iroquois Indians, 18, 122 
Isabella, 6, 8, 12, 13, 14 

Jamestown, 72 
Johnson, Sir WilUam, 198 
Joliet, 160 

King Philip's War, 175, 176 

Lane, Ralph, 65, 66 

La Salle, 163-171 

Last French War, 184-204 

Magellan, 31-34 
Manhattan Island, 120 



5,89, 



205 



20G 



INDEX 



Marquette, Father, 158-162 

Maryland, 87-92 

Massachusetts, 90-115, 140-149 

Massasoit, 105 

Mayflower, 95, 96, 101, 104 

Minuit, Peter, 120 

Mississippi River, 52-54, 159, 169 

Montcalm, General, 200-203 

Montezuma, 37-41 

Montreal, 56 

Moimd Builders, 28, 29 

Negroes, 84 

New Amsterdam, 119, 124 

New England, 90-115, 140-149 

New Haven Colonv, 114 

New Netherland, 116-129, 153-156 

New York, 116-129, 153-156 

Northwest Passage, 55, 74, 118, 164 

Oglethorpe, 136-139 
Ohio Company, 185 

Patroons, 122, 123 

Penn, WiUiam, 131-135 

Pennsylvania, 130-135 

Pequot Indians, 172-174 

Philadelphia, 132 

Philip, King, war of, 175, 176 

Pilgrims, 93-108 

Pitt, William, 198 

Pizarro, 42-47 

Plymouth, 101-107 

Pocahontas, 75-77, 82 

"Poor Richard's Almanack," 193 

Powhatan, 75-77 

Providence, 112 

Puritans, 93, 108-115 



Quakers, 130-132 
Quebec, captun- of, 200-203 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 63-69 
Rhode Island, 112 
Roanoke Island, 65-69 
Rolfe, John, 82 

St. Lawrence River, 55-57 

St. Mary, Convent of. 7 

Salem, 108, 110 

Samoset, 104, 106 

Santa Maria, 8 

Savannah, 137 

Schenectady, attack upon, 178-180 

Scrooby, 93 

Slavery, 84 

Smith, Captain John, 73-78 

Southern colonies, 149-153 

Speedwell, 95 

Squanton, 104 

Standish, Miles, 97, 98, 100, 103, 105 

Stuyvesant, Governor, 126-129 

Thanksgiving, 106 
Tobacco, 81, 83, 85, 91 
Travel, modes of, 90, 148, 149 

Venice, 2 

Vespucius, Americus, 16, 17 

Virginia, 65, 71-85 

Washington, George, 186-190 
White, John, 67, 69 
Wilhams, John, 182 
Williams, Roger, 110-112 
Winthrop, John, 108, 109 
Wolfe, General, 198-202 



M 



vG 27 ^9^8 



